Tesseract
by kitkatfox
Summary: With some special help from the TARDIS and Bad Wolf, the Doctor learns more than he thought he could about Rose, himself, and the Time Agency. *Newest Chapter: What happens when two Doctors can learn to share? Warning: slight smuttiness*
1. Have We Met Before?

_Hello. This is my first fanfic in this section, though I am a long time reader :-)  
A couple things you need to keep in mind with my fanfic:_

First of all- I write fanfics in spurts. Because of this, I try to finish all my fanfictions before even uploading them. Because of this, my fanfics tend to be dated. This leads me to #2...  
_  
#2- Because this was written over a year ago, it takes place during Season 3/Martha's season. So let's just think of it as an alternate universe? Sure._

_#3- I do have this fanfic pretty much complete, but I'm only going to upload a couple chapters at a time. Like all writers, I'm a shameless review whore. So please, even just a "that was good." or hell, a "I read this chapter." review helps to get the next chapter up! _

_Otherwise, please enjoy!_

**Chapter One: Have We Met Before?**

_"What are you up to, ol' girl? And what does it have to do with Rose?"_

* * *

_Zeppelin Universe_

Lifting her head, she glanced around. Such a strange way to look at things, with these eyes. Two eyes, two ears, one nose, one mouth.

She was human.

She got to her feet. She had those now. At least in this world. But this was a special exception, of course. She wouldn't normally be like this. But many special exceptions were made for her.

"Are you all right?" said a voice. She knew that voice. She knew that voice very well. Her head snapped up and she was met with brown eyes and yellow hair. A very concerned expression. All of it familiar. "Miss?" The voice continued, "Are you lost?"

"Lost?" She said. Aloud. With vocal cords. Oh, she was enjoying this! She smiled widely. "Oh no, I'm not lost."

She had found Rose Tyler.

* * *

_"Our" Universe_

"Come on, ol' girl, what's wrong with you?" The Doctor frowned at the main consul of the TARDIS. Martha stood next to him, looking at the mess of buttons of switches with mild curiosity.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Her." The Doctor corrected firmly, "And I've no idea. She just…won't listen to my coordinates. It's like she doesn't want us to go anywhere."

"Maybe she wants us to take a vacation." Martha said with a smile. The Doctor glanced at her.

"Maybe you're right!" He said cheerfully, "Grab your coat, we'll go say hello to your mum!" Martha went off to grab her coat and the Doctor looked back at the consul. "Come on ol' girl. Usually you tell me what's up. Why are you clamming up so suddenly? It's like you've lost your voice." He frowned, the wheels turning, "It there something wrong with your connections?" He asked. "Come on, give me a sign, give me anything! Don't worry me like this!"

A charred bit of paper fluttered down to land on the consul. The Doctor snatched it up, looking at it critically. He gasped.

The tiny burnt piece of paper was a section of a famous play by a famous man. It read:

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

The Doctor looked up.

"What are you up to, ol' girl? And what does it have to do with Rose?"

* * *

_Zeppelin Universe_

"Oh, come on Tess! You'd look great in this! You've got the perfect body, perfectly colored hair! I'd kill for hair like that!" Rose said, shoving the green dress at her newfound friend. The newly named Tess. Tess smiled at Rose, taking the dress. She was enjoying all of this human stuff. She went into the dressing room and pulled off her coral colored tunic-like dress, tugging the green one on.

"Um, Rose? I can't tie the back." Tess said nervously. Rose burst into the dressing room, and Tess tried not to suddenly feel shy about her body. She'd never experienced these emotions before and they confused her. Rose took the sash and gently tied it in the back.

"There you go." She smiled brightly at Tess.

"Are you sure it's okay that I come to this…party?"

"Oh yeah, it's real informal about guests. Plus, can't leave you alone in this city!" Rose said with a giggle, "You're like a tourist. Who knows where you'd end up?!" Rose grabbed her hand and tugged her to the counter, paying for the dresses they were both already wearing.

They were apparently in a hurry.

Tess was surprised to find Rose so happy, immersing herself in all sorts of social events and gatherings. But she was happy to see Rose so happy. She had missed Rose.

They arrived at the large house, and Rose knocked on the door, keeping Tess's arm linked with her own. A dark haired young woman opened the door.

"Rose! How are you?" She said, pulling the blond into a hug. Tess watched curiously. She had never seen Rose around any friends except Mickey. Rose smiled at her, but Tess observed closely that the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"This is my friend, Tess." Rose said, pulling Tess forward, "She's new to town, so I thought this would be a good way to get her used to the area!" Both women laughed. Tess forced a smile. This woman wasn't really Rose's friend, just an acquaintance. The fond greeting was all an act. They entered the house, Rose leading her to a large living room where music was blaring, the bass beating rhythmically. She was immediately pulling them both onto the dance floor, her hips starting to sway. Tess watched with wide eyes. She was not used to such music. Glen Miller was more to her taste.

"Come on!" said Rose, grinning widely at her. Tess noted, with surprise, that the smile Rose gave her was genuine, even though she had known Tess for a much shorter time than the dark haired woman. It was all so confusing.

"I…don't know how to dance." Tess said, with some embarrassment. Rose blinked, then laughed.

"It's not hard, I promise! Just get the beat down, then move those hips!" She shouted over the music. Tess closed her eyes, listening carefully to the music. She started moving slowly, before she got the hang of it and smiled, getting her hips and whole body into it. Rose let out a cheer.

"Well, look at these two pretty ladies." said a voice. Tess blinked, recognizing it. She saw the look of confusion on Rose's face as the blond looked behind Tess, to the source of the comment. Rose's face drained of color. Tess turned around.

Jack Harkness grinned back at her. Tess frowned. Though she was human looking, she was not actually a human. She still retained some sensing from her original self. And this was not the Jack that belonged in this dimension. This was the one that should be dead. That Bad Wolf had brought back. And Rose didn't even know that she had brought Jack back during that state. She still thought he was dead. Tess spun back around to look back at Rose. In time for the blond to fall towards her in a dead faint.

* * *

"Well, you sure are strong for a girl." Jack said, smiling at Tess. Tess nodded.

"Yeah, I'm not your average woman."

"I'll bet." He said with a flirty smirk. Tess ignored it, focusing on Rose on the bed before them. The dark haired woman had let them have one of the guest rooms for Rose, after Tess had caught her. Jack had carried her upstairs, with Tess following worriedly.

"So…care to explain why your appearance made her faint?" Tess asked. She knew, of course, but she wanted to hear it from Jack. Make sure she wasn't making a mistake.

"Well…I'm sort of an old friend. She uh…might think that I'm dead…" He said, chuckling, "It's a long story. You wouldn't believe it, anyways."

"You'd be surprised." Tess said seriously. Jack tilted his head at her.

"You look familiar. Have we met before?"

"Possibly." She said, honestly. Jack saw her serious eyes, and didn't pursue the subject further. Instead, he looked at Rose.

"Is she going to be all right?"

"Of course." Tess said, leaning over. "Rose. Rose, come on, wake up!"

"Doctor?" She murmured. Tess pulled back, as if stung. Rose shouldn't have been able to remember her voice…could she? Much less connect it to the Doctor.

"Rose?" Jack said, his eyes narrowed on Tess. He was suspicious of her. Smarter than he looked. Rose's eyes fluttered up, glancing up at Jack.

"Jack?" She murmured. She struggled to sit up, and Jack's hands went to her shoulders.

"Now now, sweetheart, be careful. You almost had a nasty spill there. If it weren't for your…friend here." He looked at Tess, frowning. Tess kept her expression carefully concerned, her eyes locked on Rose.

"Tess?" Rose said, her eyes focusing on the woman. Tess smiled.

"Hey there. Are you all right?"

"Yeah…I just…" She looked back at Jack, "What- Are you- Have we met before?" She asked carefully. Jack burst out laughing. Rose's eyes widened in surprised.

"Oh yes, darling. It was World War Two. You came swinging in from a barrage balloon. I had an invisible spaceship." He said with a grin. The color drained from Rose's face again. Tess started to get worried. If she couldn't accept Jack, how could she ever be expected to accept…

"But…the Doctor said you died. You…didn't survive the Da-" She cut herself off, seeing Jack wince. He smiled bravely at her.

"Yeah, but somehow I was saved…I'm not exactly sure myself."

"Okay…so that barely explains that, but uh…how did you get here? This isn't…our world." Rose said quietly, cutting a glance at Tess. Jack looked at Tess also. Tess looked back, her expression solemn, and blank. Jack frowned.

"I think first we have to deal with your friend here. She seems…"

"Familiar?" Rose said. Tess looked at her in surprise. She didn't think Rose had realized it.

"Yeah."

"I think…we can trust her." Rose said, looking at Tess carefully, "Somehow I just know…"

"Oh, I know that. I know she isn't a threat to us. But I still want to get to the root of this pesky déjà vu feeling." He said, narrowing his eyes, "And something tells me that Tess here knows more about why I'm here than I do."

"Actually, I don't." Tess answered honestly. "You were a surprise. A pleasant one, I will say, but a surprise nonetheless." Jack frowned and Rose stared.

"A pleasant surprise?" Jack said, "Usually I have no problem being called that, in face, I'd say I love it, but coming from you, I don't think it quite has the same meaning. I asked you before; have we met before?"

"Sort of." Tess answered honestly. Rose blinked at the familiar words, said in a familiar tone. Jack looked frustrated.

"Would you just give us some answers?!"

"No. I can't yet." Tess said, looking away. She leaned over to look at the watch on Jack's wrist. "We have about an hour yet. Then everything will be explained. Now, come on. I'm starving." She got to her feet and strode out of the room. Jack smiled widely.

"Well, whoever she it, she's got a fantastic figure." He cut a smirk at Rose, who was wrinkling her nose.

"The same feeling that tells me that she's familiar is telling me that you definitely shouldn't hit on her."

"Yeah, me too. But it isn't stopping me." He helped Rose to her feet. She stood still for a moment, before she threw herself into Jack's arms, hugging him tightly. "Rose?"

"Oh, I'm just so happy to see you!" She said, her voice slightly choked up. Jack smiled gently.

"Yeah, I'm glad to see you too. When I saw that you were on the deceased list back home, I didn't believe it for a second. I knew the Doctor would have figured out something. He sent you here for a bit, huh?" Jack said with a grin, "Smart guy, he is."

"Not for a bit." Rose said, her tone morose. Jack raised an eyebrow. "He…didn't mean for me to get stuck here."

"Stuck here?" Jack asked, "Then…the Doctor…?"

"Is still in our world, sailing around in the TARDIS and stopping evil plots." She gave a half-hearted smile, "I haven't seen him for two years now."

"Oh Rose…" Jack said, hugging her close, "I know…how it was with-"

"Please don't…" Rose said, disentangling herself from him, "Anyways, I'm fine now."

"Did he at least say goodbye?"

"Yeah…" Rose said, looking away. Jack frowned.

"Properly? Like I did?" Jack said, in all seriousness. Rose shook her head, not meeting his eyes.

"I…got stuck here and he could only come as a hologram-type thing to say goodbye. And he ran out of time before he could say what he really wanted to."

"Which was?"

"I have no idea." She said, her tone stubborn.

"I'm sure you do Rose." Jack said quietly. She didn't reply.

"Come on guys! I'm still starving!" Tess called from outside the room, pretending she hadn't been listening. Pretending Rose's words didn't break her heart.

* * *

"_Our" World_

The Doctor and Martha re-entered the TARDIS after having spent some time in regular modern day London. The Doctor went quickly to the controls, Martha following quietly. She had noticed that the Doctor had been strange since they'd left. He was looking closely at the buttons and switches, muttering to himself. Suddenly he pulled back.

"Come on, ol' girl. Let me set the course. We're not going to just sit here forever! It isn't like she's going to just appear!" He glanced back at the controls, "So you've changed it so we'll move to Cardiff, yeah, that's real great. Martha has no interest in Cardiff. Neither have I, for that matter!" He said angrily. The controls still wouldn't move for him. "Fine. We'll go, but you'll see there's nothing there! Certainly not her!"

Martha frowned, suspicions rising. She wasn't stupid. She had a very good idea which 'her' they were referring to. But she was momentarily distracted by the TARDIS powering up. She saw a switch twinkle on the consul, by her left arm, just as the whooshing sound started. It switched over on its own.

"Doctor!" She shouted over the noise, clutching the control board.

"Yes Martha?" The Doctor shouted back.

"What's this?" She pointed at the switch and the Doctor looked at it for a moment before he gasped.

"Oh no!" He heaved himself upwards, moving towards Martha and the switch. "What are you doing, ol' girl?! You're going to kill us all!"

Very comforting words, thought Martha.

* * *

_Ta Dah! And now..._


	2. Bad Wolf

**Chapter Two: Bad Wolf**

_**"**__Words have power. Great words have great power."_

* * *

_Zeppelin World_

The TARDIS stopped very suddenly, and both the Doctor and Martha were sent flying. The Doctor got to his feet very quickly, running back to the controls. He looked at the screen, adjusting some knobs.

"What?" He murmured, "That's…impossible." He looked up at the ceiling. Martha had gotten used to this, recognizing this as when the Doctor was speaking directly to the TARDIS. "What did you do?" The lights flickered. The Doctor turned around, staring at the door that led out into the world. Martha followed his gaze.

"Is everything all right, Doctor?" She asked.

"Well, Martha, we've just done the impossible. But yes, I do believe everything is perfectly fine. Though how that's possible I have no idea." He was looking at the door in wonder, and slight fear. Martha blinked. The Doctor was nervous about going outside. He was never nervous about going outside. Not even when everyone thought there was no oxygen around the hospital on the moon. He just waltzed right outside, no fear.

What was scaring him now?

Martha got to her feet, moving to stand near the Doctor.

"Where are we?"

"Earth. Cardiff." This threw Martha off. She'd expected them to be in some weird alien world. Something she would think that would freak out the Doctor. Certainly not Earth. And even more certainly, not _Cardiff. _Hmm…maybe Cardiff was awful in the future, thought Martha.

"Um…when are we? Past, future?" she asked.

"Same time period as…when we left." The Doctor murmured.

"Like, my year? Modern Cardiff?" She asked. The Doctor turned to look at her.

"Modern Cardiff, yes. _**Your**_ year? Not exactly." He took a step forward, reaching for the door to open it up. "We're in a parallel Earth." He said, throwing the door open. Martha looked out.

It looked exactly the same as Cardiff back home. Except for the numerous blimps in the air. Well, at least she assumed so. She'd never actually been to Cardiff. But it looked normal enough. So why was the Doctor acting so strangely?

"So…if it's just…normal Cardiff, but in a parallel Earth, then why are you…so weird?" She asked, looking at him. He smiled slightly.

"I am acting strange, aren't I? Well, Martha, I've been to this world before. Once in person quite a bit ago, during a slight problem with those human-robot creatures called Cybermen. Also in a sent image, a sort of hologram. About a year ago. To say goodbye to a very special woman. Who I thought I'd never see again." He said, his expression breaking into a grin, "Seems I was wrong. Delightfully wrong."

Martha made a face. She knew there was only one woman that the Doctor would talk about like that. Well, the only other woman he ever really talked about.

Rose.

* * *

"Oh my god, these are amazing!" Tess said excitedly, stuffing a couple more chips into her mouth. Rose sighed.

"So you've never had chips before?" She asked, though somehow it didn't surprise her. Not much surprised her anymore about this strange woman she'd just met six hours ago. Jack smiled at the woman. He still was mildly suspicious about Tess, but only in the sense of how she fit into everything. Otherwise, he felt extremely attached to the woman, like he did with Rose. Almost like he'd known her as long as Rose…which didn't make sense.

Tess swallowed and looked at Jack. She gave him a winning smile. He smiled back widely. Rose giggled, smiling too. She felt happier than she had in a long time. Well, two years to be exact. Tess looked at Rose. She was so happy to see the blond happier than she had been. And it was only about to get better. Hopefully.

* * *

The Doctor walked quickly down the street, and Martha had to almost run to keep up. She really had wanted to stay in the TARDIS, but she didn't feel like she could leave the Doctor alone. Plus, she was curious about this Rose woman.

The Doctor couldn't believe what had happened. How had the TARDIS gotten him here alive? Of course he knew why. The TARDIS was just as attached to Rose as he was. She had been upset when Rose had disappeared, causing the Doctor to never go where he wanted when setting coordinates. Until she had found the collapsing star, the way to send a message. But she refused to acknowledge emotions, so she was quickly back to normal. Until a little less than a week ago, come to think of it. The Doctor realized the TARDIS had begun to act strange after he and Martha had returned from Shakespeare's time. He couldn't put his finger on it.

Until now.

That was obviously when she had found a way back to Rose. Though he didn't understand why she couldn't communicate it to him through they're psychic connection. Her sort of "speaking" to him.

_Doctor._

There she was! But…wait a second. That hadn't come from the direction of the TARDIS. What was going on?? He followed the psychic summons. It led him to a small fish and chips place. It looked vaguely familiar. He was pretty sure it was the alternate version of the one he, Rose, Jack, and Mickey had all gone to back on the other Earth. He didn't understand why the summons had led him here until he saw her. She was sitting outside the restaurant, at a small table.

He saw her blond hair first. It was a little longer, like when he'd first met her, and slightly wavy, pulled up, with a couple wisps around her face. She was dressed in a blue party dress and sitting with two other people. And man and a woman. He felt something strange from the woman, but ignored it as he just looked at Rose. Took her in. She was facing him, the other two people's backs to him. She was smiling, giggling slightly at whatever her companions were saying. Then she smacked the man.

"Jack!" She shrieked, laughing. The Doctor didn't even react to the name. He stepped closer when he felt a hand on his arm.

"Doctor, do you think this is really a good idea?" Martha asked, looking at him. He frowned slightly. She was right, of course. Rose looked happy. He was just going to bring everything crashing down. He considered turning around and just going back to the TARDIS, convincing her to take Martha and him away from there. He decided that was best. He'd return to his dimension with Martha. Let Rose live her life.

"Doctor??" came a surprised voice. The Doctor looked back over at the small table. And was met with Rose's brown eyes. He stared. She stared.

"Rose…" He whispered. Her eyes fluttered. How could he have thought he should just walk away? The woman next to her said something and Rose got to her feet slowly. The Doctor moved closer, resisting his urge to reach out and touch her, make sure she was real. She didn't though, and her hand was on his face almost immediately, her other hand reaching out to tug at his trench coat. He could see that she was trembling.

"Are you really…I mean, first Jack…and that was nice, really. But I never thought that…you would…" She trailed off, looking up at him. He gave her a slight smile, not really hearing her words, just watching her.

"I can't believe…" He murmured, one of his hands drifting up to touch her shoulder, brushing against the tips of her hair. "I didn't think I'd see you again…" He whispered. She nodded.

"Yeah…I didn't think that I'd…" She heaved a big sigh. The Doctor grinned.

"But here we are!" He said cheerfully. He forced himself to act normally. As if this wasn't one of the biggest events of his entire life. And he had lived a long time. "Oh, Rose, I want you to meet someone." He turned and Rose focused on the woman who had been standing by the Doctor since he'd showed up. "This is Martha. She's a doctor." He said, laughing slightly. Rose stared. Martha gave her a hesitant smile. Even she knew how incredibly awkward this was. The Doctor didn't seem to have a clue.

"Come on, come on, shake hands." He said, motioning. The girls followed suite, both murmuring hello.

"Well, Hel-lo Martha." said Jack, from behind Rose. Rose frowned. The Doctor looked up, and was met with Jack's ice blue eyes. He blinked. But then a voice cut in. A very familiar voice.

"Yes, well, Doctor, I don't believe that introducing Martha right off the bat was a good idea. I actually would have preferred if you had left her in London. But I wasn't sure how to communicate that." The Doctor looked past Jack to a shorter, slim woman.

His jaw dropped. She had long, wavy coppery colored hair, and electric green-blue eyes, with flecks of gold in them. She was looking at him sternly. He knew that look, even though he had never actually _seen _it before. Just felt it. From his very own TARDIS.

"You…" he trailed off, at a loss for words for the first time he could remember. Tess smiled and stepped forward.

"Yes, yes, just don't faint on me, Doctor." She turned to Martha, "Hello Martha. I didn't mean to be rude about leaving you in London, it's just this reunion is…overwhelming as it is, without you being here." Martha just blinked. The Doctor tried again.

"You're…her? In…a human body? How…is that possible?" He murmured. She tossed her head, rolling her eyes.

"I'm very powerful. Not just a hunk of metal." She said with annoyance. Rose looked from the Doctor back to Tess, than back to the Doctor.

"Doctor?" She asked, "Do…you know Tess?"

"Tess?" The Doctor said, looking at the woman, "I don't know anyone named Tess, but this….person I suppose, before you is the TARDIS."

"What?" three voices said at once. The Doctor and Tess both looked exasperated.

"I admit I have not been forthright, but the Doctor is correct. I am the somewhat human embodiment of the TARDIS." Tess said. Rose tilted her head.

"Somewhat human? What do you mean?"

"Well, as I said, I am a very powerful being. I figured out a way to repair the problem with the dimensional rift, and keep it stable enough that I could jump without problems. But it involved a part of me being on both sides. And the part on this side couldn't be of this dimension. So I had to sort of force…a form of me to appear on this side. And a humanlike body was the easiest manifestation for me to take. Then it was a simple matter of stitching it up, sending the needle back and forth, so to speak."

The Doctor was nodding along with her speech, but everyone else just looked dumbstruck.

"But I still don't understand. I mean, I know you figured something out after Martha and I returned from Shakespeare's time," started the Doctor, "But how did that problem help you?"

"'Words have power. Great words have great power.' And I know the greatest words of them all." said Tess with a smug grin.

"And what's that?" asked the Doctor.

"Bad Wolf." She said. The Doctor and Rose exchanged glances, "After that, it was quite easy." She said with pride. The Doctor let out a laugh.

"Well, well, if anyone could it, you could ol' girl." He said affectionately. Tess frowned.

"Don't call me that while I'm in this body." She ran her hands down her sides and hips, "Does this body look old?" The Doctor chuckled.

"Touché."

"You have to remember, I'm the TARDIS, but I'm not." She said earnestly, "It's hard to explain."

"Well, well, I never would have though the TARDIS would be so sexy." Jack said with a grin. Tess rolled her eyes. The Doctor looked at Jack.

"Wait. Is that our Jack, or this world's Jack??" He asked, looking at Jack apprehensively.

"I'm all yours Doctor." Jack said with a smirk.

"But…I thought you were dead?" The Doctor said, glancing quickly at Rose. Tess interjected, giving the Doctor a frown first.

"No. He was not. Rose and you left just before he reached the room we were in." She said, "And through some interesting…twists in fate, ended up here, just a little bit before you, Doctor." The Doctor started to say something, but Tess interrupted, "Why don't we all just sit down to a meal or something and catch up." The group agreed, and the Doctor, Rose, and Jack all started off, laughing and talking about old times. Martha hung back, and Tess stayed back with her.

"I'm sorry Martha." She said quietly. Martha glanced at the redhead.

"What do you mean?" She was playing dumb, even though she already had a bit of an idea of what Tess was apologizing for.

"I didn't mean to go behind your back and do this. I know the Doctor doesn't care that I did this, is happy, in fact. But you…you're resentful."

"Are you reading my thoughts or something?" She asked.

"No. I'm just not stupid. You think I'm taking something away from you." Tess said kindly. Martha avoided her gaze. "Martha. I don't want to sound cruel, but I think you already know. I didn't take anything away."

"I know." Martha said quietly. "I never really had it to begin with…had him."

"He's amazing, isn't he?" Tess asked, looking at the Doctor. Martha smiled.

"Oh yes, he is. But I don't understand about Rose. I mean, when he talked about her so much, I expected her to be this amazing woman. And, no offense, she's very…normal."

"Yes. She's not amazingly beautiful, not that she's ugly. She's not incredibly smart, not that she's stupid." Tess said with a laugh, "She never figured things out like you do all the time." She gave Martha a smile. "But as you said, she's normal. And that fascinates the Doctor. He's not used to normal. Even you, honey, are not normal. And you know that. You are a doctor. Rose worked at a shop." Tess said with a reminiscing smile. Martha smiled slightly.

"Yeah. And I though I'd hate her immediately upon meeting her. But I don't."

"Yes. It's very hard to dislike Rose. She just so…there. Like an open wound." Tess said, looking at Rose affectionately.

"You missed her too?" Martha asked. She blushed, "Sorry, I'm still getting used to the idea of you being…an entity, not just…'a hunk of metal'." She said with a grin. Tess smiled back.

"Yes. I missed her. Rose…Rose used to talk to me. When the Doctor wasn't around. She was embarrassed about it. I'd never had anyone talk to me like Rose did. She talked to me like I was…a friend." Tess looked down and Martha blinked.

"I understand. I was lucky to have met the Doctor. And you." Tess looked up, surprised. Martha smiled at her. "It was fun. But I think…as you probably already know, I'm gonna go home after this little reunion." Martha's smile grew hollow. Tess sighed.

"Yes." Then she brightened, "How about you say goodbye to the Doctor now, and I'll ferry you home. You can experience time travel all on your own." She said with a grin. Martha laughed.

"Somehow, that sounds appealing."

"All right then. It's settled. Doctor!" She called to the group up ahead. They stopped and turned.

"Yes?" The Doctor asked.

"Could you come here for a moment?" Tess asked. She gave him a look that had him telling Rose and Jack that he'd "be just a moment". He walked back to Martha and Tess.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Yes. You were wrong to bring Martha here." Tess said sternly. The Doctor blinked, and then looked properly shamefaced. "I don't know how you thought she'd enjoy this. It isn't fair to her. And that's why you're going to say goodbye to her now, and I'm going to take her home." The Doctor hesitated.

"Can you do that without me?" Tess stared at him, "Right, of course you can." He turned to Martha. "Martha…" She looked at him, her expression carefully guarded. "It was fantastic, it really was. I had such a good time. And I understand that it was really awful of me to give you such a wonderful time to just…take it away. But I do promise that sooner is much better than later. You'll move on, eventually." The Doctor said, with a smile, "And you'll go be a doctor and save people's lives yourself. And you'll be fantastic at it." He said, pulling her into a hug. Martha forced back her tears. "And I promise, I'll visit." He said, looking down at her. She smiled.

"Really?"

"Oh yes. I can't tell you when it'll be, but I'll visit!"

"I won't let him forget." Tess said, with a smile, "Come on Martha." She took Martha's arm gently, pulling her away from the Doctor, "I'll be back soon, Doctor." Tess said with a smile, "Have fun."

He waved as they left, then went back to Rose and Jack.

"What was that about?" Rose asked.

"Martha's gonna go back home." The Doctor said quietly, watching her leave.

"Too bad, she was cute." Jack said with a smile. Rose rolled her eyes and tugged on the Doctor's arm, slipping her hand into his. She beamed up at him and he grinned back down at her.

"Come on, let's go grab a bite!"


	3. Restan Warrior Robot

**Chapter Three: Restan Warrior Robot**

_"There are only two possibilities. They knew of my plan in advance, which is of course, impossible; or they can time travel, which is again, impossible."_

* * *

Tess stopped in front of the door to the TARDIS, touching it softly. She smiled.

"It's so strange to…"

"Touch yourself?" Martha said with a smirk.

"I was not going to use that choice of wording, but yes, it is." Tess said. Martha giggled. "All right, Martha, in you go!"

"What about you?"

"I'm sorry, I can't go with you, I have to stay here to make sure the rift stays stable. It's not completely healed yet."

"Oh…all right." Martha said, she started to open the door when Tess pulled her back, hugging her.

"I can't hug you as the TARDIS, but I can as Tess." She said softly. Martha smiled. "And I promise, the Doctor will see you again. I might not…not like this."

"Goodbye." Martha said tenderly, "I hope to see you again."

Then she got into the blue box, and Tess shut the door behind her. The whooshing sound began almost immediately, and the box faded away. Tess stood still for a moment before she turned back to go meet her Doctor.

That was when she saw it. And gasped.

"What is one of those…doing here??" It hadn't spotted her yet, so she hurried away, slipping around a corner and out of sight. She had to hurry back to the Doctor and his companions.

* * *

"And that's how 'Loves Labors Won' was only performed once." The Doctor said.

"Shakespeare hit on Martha?" Rose said, "How come I never got hit on during our travels?"

"Ahem. Did I not try hard enough?" Jack said, exasperated. The Doctor and Rose ignored him.

"What about Adam?" The Doctor said, eyebrow raised.

"Ugh. You cannot compare Adam to Shakespeare!" Rose said indignantly, "I meant someone famous."

"You got to meet Charles Dickens!" The Doctor exclaimed, "Did he need to be drooling over you for the experience to be complete??"

"No." Rose said. The Doctor smiled triumphantly before Rose continued, "He was old, and grotty. I meant someone young and cute."

"Sitting right here." Jack said, trying again.

"It's always you! I mean, what about Madame Pompadour!" Rose yelled at the Doctor. "And when you were talking about Cleopatra!"

"Oh well, Cleo was different…I mean that was-"

"Oh shut up!" Rose cried, "I don't even want to hear your excuses!" She sat back, lifting a chip a putting it in her mouth, looking out the window.

"Rose, come on." The Doctor said, sighing, "This is ridiculous. We haven't seen each other in a year, and you immediately pick a fight."

Rose's eyes snapped back to the Doctor's face, her expression dark.

"It's been _two _years since I have seen you."

"Oh right…I'm slightly off time-wise here…" The Doctor murmured. Rose continued, her eyes narrowing.

"And you didn't even try to see me? At least send me another message?? You just moved on, collected another companion, and went on. Well I'm glad it's so easy for you!" She got to her feet and stormed off. Jack grabbed the Doctor's arm when he started to go after her.

"You may want to think on what she said before you go running after her." Jack said, "It's been two years for her. Then you just fall back into her lap, all grins and hullos." Jack continued, "It might be easy for you, but she's right, it's a lot harder for her."

The Doctor blinked, watching Rose turn a corner and disappear.

"You're right, Jack…I should have realized…" He trailed off.

Suddenly Tess ran up, breathing heavily.

"Hey, guess what- Where's Rose?" She asked, her eyes widening. The Doctor shrugged.

"We got into a bit of an argument and she stormed off. She just went around that corner over there." He pointed. Tess spun around.

"Are you crazy?!" She shouted, starting to run in the direction Rose had gone. The Doctor and Jack got to their feet and took off after her.

"What's wrong?" The Doctor asked. Tess glanced at him.

"Well, you'll never guess what's here." Her expression was so solemn that the Doctor started to get worried.

"It's isn't Daleks, is it?"

"No." She said.

"Cybermen?"

"No."

"Well, what's the problem then?"

"Restan Warrior Robot." She said, her face deadpanned.

"What?? Here?? Are you sure?" The Doctor demanded.

"Of course I'm sure!" Tess shouted back, "It's not like I've never seen one before. And you let Rose just go off. I'll bet it's after you, and anyone associated with you."

"It isn't like I thought she'd be in any danger. I would have never let her go if I'd known that!" The Doctor argued.

"Well, now that you are traveling with her, she's going to be in constant danger again! So starting behaving like she is!" Tess yelled, "You've got to remember that! Do you want to lose her again?!"

"No!" The Doctor said, his eyes dark, "Of course I don't. And don't even suggest that!" They turned the corner and the Doctor came to a stop.

"She should be right here. She couldn't have gone far. There are no places to turn for a block or two." The Doctor said, looking around worriedly. Tess sighed.

"It's probably gotten her. We've got to find it." They glanced around.

"Well, where are we going to start?" asked Jack. Tess frowned.

"I could try to locate it by looking for traces of non-human made robotic trace-signatures."

"You mean scan for alien tech?" Jack asked with a grin. Tess giggled before she glanced around.

"Can you do that, without being…your normal self?" asked the Doctor.

"Yes, quite easily. I can do almost anything that my other self can. Remember, this human form deceives." She said, her eyes narrowed in concentration, "He's jumping. It's hard to lock on. I believe he's trying to throw me off. But I'm pretty sure Rose is with him. I have a human bio-signature that I believe matches Rose. Wait." She blinked, straightening up. Suddenly the silvery form of the Restan Warrior appeared, Rose in his arms and a spike at her throat. The Doctor started forward, but Tess threw an arm out to block his path.

"Wait." She looked at the robot slowly. It stared back silently for a moment before it threw what looked like some sort of recording device at them. Tess caught it reflexively, looking for a play button. She hit it and a strange distorted voice came out of the device.

"Hello Doctor. If you are listening to this it means my Restan Warrior managed to capture one of your companions. Which shouldn't be hard anyways. Anyway, I will return your companion to you in exchange for the TARDIS creature. She must go along willingly with my robot, and you will not be able to follow, trust me. I require her to sever all connections with her ship-form so that you may not recover her. Only then will I return you companion. You have three minutes to decide before my warrior kills your companion. He cannot be negotiated with. Neither can I. You have one of two choices; give me the TARDIS creature, or let your companion die. Choose wisely." The recording shut off and Tess turned to look at the Doctor. He frowned. The three retreated back slightly to discuss their options. The Restan Warrior watched calmly, Rose still in his grasp.

"How does someone know about you?" He asked. Tess shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I have not existed long. Perhaps eight hours by now. Certainly not long enough for someone to stage such an elaborate hostage plot."

"What does that mean?" The Doctor asked, already trying to figure it out himself. Tess frowned, thinking.

"There are only two possibilities. They knew of my plan in advance, which is of course, impossible; or they can time travel, which is again, impossible."

"Time agency." Jack said immediately. The Doctor and Tess both glanced over at him.

"Jack, that is absolutely brilliant. I didn't even think of that!" Tess exclaimed, "It makes sense. They have limited time travel capabilities, but some. Enough that they could learn of this plot."

"Especially since I know they have time agents planted at Torchwood in my world, so I'd bet they do in this one too. And they'd be keeping an eye on Rose. And they'd see her meet you. And they aren't stupid." Jack said, on a roll. The Doctor sighed.

"None of this helps us with Rose." He said hollowly. Tess frowned.

"True. We only have one minute and forty three, forty two, forty one seconds." She said. The Doctor glanced back at Rose.

"I can't lose her again." He murmured. Tess smiled.

"I know. I'll go. We'll figure out how to get me out of it later. You know they won't kill me."

"I can't let you go into enemies hands. I've fought too hard to keep the TARDIS technology out of suspicious hands." The Doctor said. Tess rolled her eyes.

"Running out of options, Doctor." Jack said, glancing at his watch. The Doctor remained stubborn. Tess took a deep breath.

"All right. Time to do something drastic." She closed her eyes. Suddenly, she faded out of sight. The Doctor and Jack blinked in surprised.

She reappeared right next to the robot, and it spun around in surprise. Tess was ready though, and quickly did a roundhouse kick to its head. It stumbled back, and Tess reached out to tug Rose out of its grip. Then she faded with Rose in her arms, reappearing next to the Doctor.

"How did you-"

"Come on, we have to move!" said Tess, "Restan Warrior Robots are territory-based, so let's get out of the area!" She pulled Rose along with her as the group ran down the street.

"My apartment's this way." said Rose, taking the lead. They turned down a side street, and Tess glanced behind them. She didn't see the robot and her sense told her it wasn't in the area. That just made her more suspicious though.

Minutes later they reached Rose's apartment and hurried up the steps. She pulled out her keys, opening the door.

"It's just a bit of a mess. I wasn't expecting company…" She murmured, letting them in. Tess glanced around at the decent sized apartment.

"So Torchwood pays you well?"

"Well yeah, and uh…Pete and all." She murmured with some embarrassment. Tess nodded. Jack grinned.

"Some place. Great for parties, I bet."

"I don't really…have people over. I usually go out." Rose said quietly, "Except for maybe Mum. Or Mickey of course." She said. The Doctor smiled.

"Ah, old Mickey-boy, how is he?"

"Pretty good…we still hang out sometimes." Rose answered, moving to sit in a heavily cushioned chair. Tess sat on the couch, Jack sitting next to her. The Doctor chose the chair next to Rose.

"Well, I say we get back to the TARDIS." He glanced at Tess, "Well, the other TARDIS."

"Let's just call the ship the TARDIS and me Tess. It'll save confusion." Tess said. The Doctor nodded.

"We need to get back to the TARDIS and just get out of here." He sent Rose a look, "We'll come back to see your mum after we get away from this robot and figure out how to deal with this situation. But right now, you have to stay with me." He said firmly. Rose blushed slightly, "You'll be safer."

"Uh, right. Of course. For safety and everything." She said hurriedly. Tess glanced at the two for a second, a smile flitting across her face. Then her expression changed to extremely serious.

"That would be a good idea, except for a slight problem."

"Problem?" the Doctor said, looking over at Tess.

"Yes. I've lost contact with the TARDIS. I don't know when she'll return."

"Well, what about your teleporting?" asked Jack, "The thing you did to save Rose. Nice moves, by the way, with the kicking." Jack said.

"Thanks. My 'teleporting', as you call it, is currently only spatial. I can't go anywhere in time. Only the actual TARDIS can do that."

"We don't need to." said Jack, "We just need to do dimensions. We can go to whatever time it is over there."

Both Tess and the Doctor looked at Jack like he was the stupidest person in the universe.

"Dimensional shifting is time-based." Tess said, "It's basically going sideways in time. Not spatial."

"Ah. I knew that. I just forgot." Jack murmured with ruffled aplomb.

"So what are we going to do until the TARDIS does show up?" The Doctor asked. "Assuming Martha isn't going all sorts of crazy places with her."

"Martha wouldn't be able to get the TARDIS to work. Plus, I know I was just going to take her home and be right back." Tess said, her expression becoming perplexed. "I'm not sure what's wrong. But you're right, Doctor, we need to come up with a plan. I'm sure whoever is after us will soon figure out where we are hiding out, if they haven't already." Tess stated.

"What we need to do is figure out who they are and exactly what they want. I mean, we know they were demanding Tess, but what does that get them?" Jack wondered. The Doctor thought a moment.

"I'm not sure. She can't travel in time, and I doubt they think she can. The TARDIS itself would really be a better device to steal."

"Except it's much harder to take the TARDIS." Tess murmured, "I've very vulnerable in this form…if you haven't noticed."

"Actually, I hadn't." Jack said, "How did you manage to roundhouse that robot back there?"

"I'm not exactly sure. Somehow I know some fighting techniques, probably from all the memories I possess. And as I'm not human, I do possess some extra strength. Internally, I'm still an enormous space-time travel device. I'm just a little easier on the eyes." She said, trying her hand at a sultry smile. Jack grinned back, but the Doctor was taken aback.

"I'd say you are." Jack replied. The Doctor looked at Jack, aghast.

"Do not flirt with the TARDIS." He said quickly. Jack laughed.

"You're like a protective father. Isn't she older than you, technically?"

"Let's not get into the technical aspects of any of this. We'll be talking for hours upon end." Tess interjected before the Doctor could reply, "Can we please focus on the task at hand?"

"So who's after Tess?" Rose said, finally putting her two cents in.

"Well, we concluded earlier that it very well could have something to do with the Time Agency. They have the capabilities for all of this. Gaining the know-how and the weaponry." The Doctor said, slipping back into his role of leader. Jack nodded in agreement.

"They also have the motive." Tess spoke up. "They want to basically get to the level of Time Lords with the time streams, but they have very limited time travel. So gaining me would certainly get them much closer." She explained. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"But using a Restan Warrior Robot?" The Doctor said.

"We don't know much about the Time Agency." Tess put in. The Doctor shrugged.

"They would if it meant gaining anything for research and learning about time." Jack said quietly. "I should know."

"What do you mean?" Tess asked.

"Well. I never had a chance to explain why I came here, to find Rose." He said.

"You mean Tess didn't bring you?" asked the Doctor. Jack shook his head.

"When I was brought back to life, it caused memories to resurface. It took a while for them to be anything more than flashes, a couple seconds of memory. So I spent some time working for Torchwood, but as soon as I understood what I was remembering, I knew I had to find Rose and the Doctor. I knew about Rose being supposedly dead. But some strange little slime ball at Torchwood mentioned that she might be in this other dimension. I'm pretty sure he works for the Time Agency. So I followed his advice and rigged myself a little dimensional puddle-jumper. Once I arrived here, I realized that I was stuck here. The spaceship was only good for one trip."

"What did you remember?" Rose asked hesitantly.

"Bits and pieces of the two years that the Time Agency erased from my memory." Jack said, "Bit and pieces of me and others researching Time Lords. More specifically, the Doctor and his TARDIS." He looked at the Doctor gravely, "We even followed you around. And Rose, for some reason. No other companion, just Rose." Jack said, "But I don't remember why we were researching and following you around. I just know that we were." Jack looked away, "I'm sorry I can't remember more…"

"It's all right." Tess said, reaching out to touch his shoulder warmly. She liked being able to do that. Touch. "It isn't your fault. It's just as much mine for not realizing the Doctor and I were being watched. I'm usually better about that."

"They used a lot of tricks and cloaking." Jack murmured, not meeting anyone's gaze. The Doctor sighed.

"Well, it's still fantastic we have this information now. It'll certainly help. The question is still what do we do now."

"I've got it!" Tess shouted. Everyone looked at her in surprise. "Jack, where's your ship?"

"It's over by where we landed the TARDIS in the other Cardiff with the Slitheen. Why? I told you, it won't jump again."

"No, but I bet it has enough energy to let me link up with the TARDIS and get her back here." Tess said excitedly. The Doctor broke into grinned.

"Of course! That's wonderful. Fantastic!" He leapt to his feet, moving over to pull Rose up. She let him easily, smiling at his contagious enthusiasm.

Tess and Jack got up as well, falling into step together behind the Doctor.

"Unfortunately, your ship is smack dab in the middle of the Restan Warrior's territory." remarked Tess to Jack quietly. "Should I tell them that?"

"Nah. We'll deal with that bump in the road when we get to it." Jack said nonchalantly. Tess wished she could share his optimism.

They left Rose's apartment and headed towards Jack's ship.


	4. Foxtrot

**Chapter Four:** **Foxtrot**

_"_"_It doesn't matter how long you live, have lived, or are going to live. You should experience all you can. Even if you know it won't last forever"_

* * *

"You made it across dimensions in this?!" Tess asked in shock as the group stared at the small little capsule lying on the ground by the enormous fountain in Cardiff.

"Yeah. Only thing that could manage it on such short notice. Told you it was a puddle-jumper." Jack replied. The Doctor looked it over.

"Are you sure you can use this, Tess?"

"If you let me borrow the sonic screwdriver." Tess said with a mischievous smile. The Doctor hesitated.

"Maybe I should just do it…"

"We don't have time!" Tess cried, exasperated, "Who knows when the Restan Warrior is going to show up." She held out her hand. Slowly the Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver, holding it out to Tess but not quite letting it drop into her open palm. She snatched it.

"Be careful with it!" implored the Doctor. Tess rolled her eyes before going to work.

Only minutes later, a familiar whooshing sound and the TARDIS appeared. Everyone let out a cheer. Then Tess flipped around hurriedly, her eyes widening.

"Everyone into the TARDIS, now!" She shouted. The Doctor glanced over his shoulder to see the Restan Warrior Robot a mere 10 yards away.

It was Rose who moved into action, pulling a silver key on a long chain from beneath the blouse of her dress. She smiled as she turned it in the lock, pushing the door open.

"Come on, come on! Not the time to be reminiscing." coaxed Tess, pushing Rose into the blue box. The Doctor and Jack followed.

Regrettably, so did the Restan Warrior, slipping in at the last second.

Jack cursed, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a futuristic gun. He aimed it at the robot.

"Don't bother, Jack." The Doctor said, "It's indestructible."

"Figures." Jack said, lowering the gun.

The robot swiveled its head, looking around. He paused on Rose and a spike appeared in his hand. He threw it towards Rose. It never reached her.

"Oompf!" Tess stumbled back against Rose as the spike sank into her abdomen. The TARDIS's lights flickered. Rose gasped, wrapping her arms around Tess as the redhead started to sag.

"Tess!" yelled the Doctor, moving forward. The Restan Warrior moved quickly, putting himself in between the Doctor and the two girls. He held a spike up warningly. The Doctor stopped. "Are you all right Tess?"

She straightened slowly, reaching down and grasping the spike securely. She winced, letting out a small cry as she removed the weapon.

"Physical pain…that's new." She murmured, looking down at the wound. The liquid oozing out was similar to blood, but a darker color. It was practically black and it gleamed in the light almost like oil. Then she looked back up at the robot. Her eyes narrowed and she reached back, pushing Rose backwards.

_Move towards the hallway_

Rose blinked before she registered the voice and shuffled backwards. Tess moved with her and the robot followed. The Doctor and Jack started to follow as well before Tess shot a sharp look at the Doctor.

_Stay in here. I've got a plan._

He gave her a nod and stopped, putting his arm out to stop Jack.

When they reached the hallway, Tess turned, now shoving Rose forward

"Run!" She shouted. They tore down the hall, the robot following. Tess tugged Rose to a sharp stop, pulling a door open. It was a medium sized room with a large ornate desk in it, piled with papers. Tess bolted in, pulling Rose with her. The robot followed.

"It's me you want, right?" Tess said. The robot was still for a moment before he nodded stiffly. "Then let Rose go." She pushed Rose towards the doorway. "Go on." She said encouragingly. Rose walked slowly to the door, watching the Restan Warrior fearfully. The robot merely moved to let her pass as he stared at Tess.

_Doctor, we're going to send him into the void. Are you ready?_

_Yes. I had already guessed that. What room?_

_The study._

_What?? _The Doctor shrieked in Tess's head. _But -_

_Hurry! No time for arguments! _She resisted the urge to put her hand to her forehead to soothe this headache the Doctor was starting, instead keeping an eye on the Restan Warrior.

"I have a surprise." Tess said quietly. The Restan Warrior was quiet, but she sensed apprehension. "You cannot teleport inside the TARDIS." She said. He did not seem fazed by this. "But I can." She said with a smirk. He lifted his arm, a spike appearing.

Suddenly the room started to become transparent and the Restan Warrior glanced around in confusion. Tess took that chance to teleport back to the hallway, just in time to see the door and room within disappear, leaving a smooth wall. She smiled and walked back to the control room.

"Are you quite insane??" demanded the Doctor immediately, rushing forward. She tossed her head coolly.

"I had it under control."

He touched her wound and she let out a shriek, giving him a glare. He looked back steadily.

"Under control, right. And my _study_??"

"It was the closest room that was expendable."

"Expendable?! My study is not what I would consider expendable!"

"Doctor, you are brilliant and amazing. The words that come out of your mouth are at times, poetic." Tess started, giving him a radiant smile, "But only when talking on fly. On paper, you're quite dry and boring. Believe me, it was expendable." The Doctor was torn between the compliment and the insult, no sure which to respond to.

Rose took the opportunity to step in, throwing her arms around Tess, careful of the wound.

"You are amazing, Tess. I was so worried! I thought you'd get stuck out there with the Restan Warrior Robot!"

"Well, I'm the only expendable member of this team." Tess said with a shrug. Rose frowned.

"You are not expendable. Why would you think that??"

"This form of me is." Tess said quietly. Rose sighed, stepping back. She looked around the interior of the TARDIS.

"Oh, I missed you…" She murmured.

"Right here. You can say it to me." Tess said, smiling slightly. Rose chuckled.

"Yah, but it's weird. I'm not used to you yet."

"Oh I see how it is…" murmured Tess, pretending to be hurt. She felt a hand slip around her waist.

"It's alright, sweetheart. I think you're an upgrade." Jack said from by her ear. She laughed as the Doctor grumbled. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Only you would hit on a spaceship, Jack." She said with aggravation. Jack moved away, going to Rose and putting one hand on her hip, using his free hand to take hers in a dance pose.

"Are we jealous, Rose?" He asked with a sexy grin, leading her a couple paces of what seemed like a foxtrot. The Doctor frowned at the pair. Tess glanced at her Doctor, making her way to his side.

"Is something wrong, Doctor?" she asked innocently. He looked at her, pursing his lips.

"Tess…" he said with irritation. She smiled warmly.

"Doctor, don't forget, I know you better than anyone else." She looked back at the couple fox-trotting and laughing. The Doctor followed suite, his eyes narrowing.

"I know you do. Which means you understand why I can't-"

"No. I think you're an idiot." Tess said abruptly. The Doctor glanced at her in astonishment. "It doesn't matter how long you live, have lived, or are going to live. You should experience all you can." She glanced down at herself, touching the already healing wound on her stomach. "Even if you know it won't last forever." The Doctor's eyes drifted back to Rose and Jack, his expression pondering. He moved over to them, gently touching Rose's shoulder.

"You know, I do know this dance rather well." He said proudly, with a wide, silly smile. Rose giggled, moving into his arms. Jack easily let her, going over to Tess.

"May I have this dance?" He said gallantly, offering her his hand. She gave him a charming smile, accepting his offer and stepping into his arms. They moved easily into the fox-trot as music starting to flow from hidden speakers in the TARDIS.

"Nice job there with the Doctor." Jack said, jerking his head towards Rose and the dancing Doctor. Tess winked.

"You started it."

"I did, didn't I?" He said, smirking at her. She laughed, "I usually do. Though whatever you did seems to have pushed the Doctor over the edge. I tried to do that before he was this skinny pretty-boy."

"Well, it takes a woman's touch." Tess said, "Or…the semblance of a woman." She amended. Jack shook his head.

"Even before you had this body, I knew you were all woman."

"You didn't even twitch an eyebrow at the Doctor's different appearance?" Tess asked, used to everyone oohing and ahing (and possibly gasping and staring) at the Doctor's regenerations. Jack shrugged, which was rather awkward while dancing.

"I was kind of alerted while I was working at Torchwood. They kept an eye on the Doctor, and especially after the Christmas incident, I definitely knew about the new Doctor. I just put two and two together."

"You're smarter than you look." Tess said teasingly.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Rose and the Doctor were quiet the first couple minutes while dancing. Rose briefly thought about the last time she'd danced with the Doctor. It had been the other Doctor, and they danced noticeably different. While this 10th Doctor seemed lighter on his feet, he didn't brush against her accidentally like the 9th. She almost would trade this smoothness for the awkward steps. They were so different…and yet, so similar. After a couple of long minutes, Rose started to feel incredibly self-conscious.

"So, what have you been up to besides hospitals on the moon and Shakespeare?" She asked.

"Daleks again, unsurprisingly, actually. I'm starting to wonder why they surprise me every time. You'd think by now I should be surprised when it isn't the Daleks." The Doctor said and Rose smiled.

"That must have been fun." The sarcasm thick, "Anything else?" She asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Missing you." He whispered. Then he forced a smile, "I drove Martha batty, I'm sure, with how much I talked about you."

"Really?" Rose asked, interested. She hid a blush. The Doctor smiled. "I missed you too; a lot. At first I just…did nothing. Mum tried to make me do all sorts of things. It was awful." The Doctor looked away, his expression pained. Rose continued, "I moved out of the estate, decided to transfer down here to Cardiff's Torchwood. Eventually it was Mickey, actually, who got me to actually care a bit about my life again. In an interesting way."

"What's that?" The Doctor asked, looking back at her.

"Well, as you know, I work at Torchwood. But they're so…paperwork, reports, and everything. So I started to find ways to throw myself into situations where I could help people. I'm not as suave as you, so this was hard at first." She said, giving him a large grin. "Then I discovered parties. I could go to those, make zillions of contacts, and just spread out and keep an eye on a bunch of people at once."

"Did you do anything exciting?" the Doctor asked.

"Stopped a woman from committing suicide. I was rather proud of that. Otherwise just a couple drunken fights. And Tess. I thought I was helping her when I found her on the street." Rose said with a chuckle, "Turns out she was helping me." She looked at the Doctor, her expression becoming solemn, "And I'm so glad she helped me get back to you."

"Me too." The Doctor said.

"Really? I thought you just thought companions were a temporarily thing. I figured you just thought it was my time when you didn't come for me." She whispered, glancing away this time. The Doctor frowned, feeling a stab of shame go through him.

"No, I didn't want to leave you, Rose. It certainly wasn't your time."

"You tried to make me go before you opened the void."

"Yes. But that was a stupid thing to do. And I realized it as soon as you left for the brief moment you did." He said with a lopsided smile. Rose reflected it half-heartedly. "Rose, how can I tell you that I tried everything to get to you, that I hated that I couldn't. Even I can't do everything." He said, a desperate edge to his voice. He didn't want this to become another fight. She relented easily.

"I believe you, Doctor. I just needed reassurance." She murmured, leaning against him, her head dropping against his shoulder. The music slowed into a waltz. The Doctor watched the top of her head for a moment before he took a steadying breath and dipped his head slightly, kissing the top of her head. Rose looked up at him sharply. He kept his face unreadable and stared back down at her solemnly. She gave him a weak smile.

"Doctor!" Tess called. The music stopped abruptly and the Doctor and Rose looked over at the redhead. Her and Jack had stopped dancing and Tess was looking towards the door of the TARDIS. "There's someone outside, poking around." She said, her expression angry. The Doctor moved quickly to the control panel, switching on one of the screens. What he saw left him astonished.


	5. The Traitor

**Chapter Five: The Traitor**

"_Sometimes you just need to see the spurt of blood."_

* * *

Dark, shortly trimmed hair appeared on the screen. Then the head looked up and Rose, Tess, and the Doctor all gasped.

"Adam?!" Rose exclaimed.

"That's…impossible." The Doctor muttered.

"That's Adam?" Jack asked, "Yeah, I'm definitely cuter." He said, preening slightly. He then bit the corner of his lip, frowning slightly while studying the image of Adam on the screen.

"The question is what is he doing here?" Tess asked, "And poking around the TARDIS?"

"Well, he knows what it is, maybe he's looking for us…" murmured Rose

"No no, that isn't what I meant. How could he have gotten here? He isn't from this dimension." Tess explained

"Well, neither is Jack, and he managed it on his own." said Rose.

"True, but Jack had both the means and the reason to come to this dimension." said the Doctor, "Adam has neither. He doesn't work for Torchwood, correct?" The Doctor asked, looking at Jack.

"No. he definitely doesn't work for Torchwood." Jack said.

"Well, I say we go have a talk with our buddy Adam." Tess said, her eyes narrowed, "He has some explaining to do." She walked purposefully to the door, pulling it open sharply. Adam fell into the TARDIS clumsily, looking up at an angry redhead, apprehensive blond and irate Doctor. A well built, not unattractive man stood in the background, seemingly relaxed. Adam stared at Jack an extra second, his expression slightly fearful.

"Hello Adam." The Doctor said coolly.

"Hullo there." Adam said with a weak smile.

"Care to explain what you're doing poking around my ship?" the Doctor continued, scowling. Adam got to his feet, laughing half-heartedly. "In a dimension you don't belong to?"

"Well, about that…" He replied sheepishly. He glanced at Rose, "I'm just really curious. You know me." He said, his mouth attempting to form into a charming smile.

"Nice try, not gonna work." Tess said, her eyes dark, "What are you doing here?"

"You do look familiar…" Jack mumbled, "Now that I've gotten a good look at you. I know who you are." He stepped forward, his hand going to his pocket where the bulge of his gun was.

"Jack?" Rose asked worriedly.

"He works for the Time Agency!" Jack exclaimed, his expression dark. Adam straightened up, his hand quickly going to his side and pulling out a gun. His expression had instantly changed from innocent oaf to a keen soldier. He grabbed Tess, bringing her against him and putting the gun to her head.

"I told them you would be a liability." Adam said to Jack, irritated, "But they just don't listen to me."

"Probably because you're an idiot." Tess sneered.

"Let Tess go." Rose said, her voice high pitched. Adam looked at her, chuckling.

"You're the most gullible woman I've ever met. Even the Doctor thought there was something off about me at first. But you, you just went along with the simple juvenile flirting. You just love that dumb boy act, huh. Like Mickey?" He said mockingly. Rose looked away crestfallen. The Doctor reached out, taking her hand into his and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"I think you'd better let Tess go, Adam." He said in a low voice. Adam laughed.

"Ah, the all new doctor." He glanced back at Rose, "New doctor dumped you after a bit, huh? He needed a new companion to go with his new face." He laughed as Rose frowned. The Doctor glanced at her.

"Don't believe that ridiculous lie, Rose. You know better."

"This doctor doesn't look at you the same way as the old one." Adam continued, glancing at Jack, "Jack, even you know that. This new doctor laughs and jokes, he touches casually, but he doesn't look at her like the old one." Adam finished, looking triumphant. Jack exchanged glances with Tess. Rose forced a smile.

"You think that stupid lie is going to bother me? You obviously don't know me as well as you think!"

"You aren't going to create doubt with that kindergarten tactic." Jack said, raising an eyebrow. Adam glared.

"You don't understand. I have the upper hand here. I have the gun! Pointed to her _head_! And I will shoot her if I have to. She may be valuable to my boss, but my life is more valuable to me."

"Always about yourself, huh, Adam?" Jack said, his gun still raised. Gone was the flirty, fun-loving RAF poser. His eyes were narrow and his lips pursed. The hand on the gun's trigger was quite steady.

"At least it isn't about the next skirt I can get off." Adam retorted. Jack smirked.

"Well, I had no problems in that area. Even Rose dumped you easily." Jack replied, tightening the finger on the trigger.

"Don't even think about it!" Adam shouted, pushing his gun harder against Tess's head, "I can definitely shoot her before you can shoot me." Rose reached out to touch Jack's free arm.

"Don't risk it. She isn't expendable, no matter what she says. She's a person." Rose said quietly. Jack looked at the Doctor.

"You understand sacrifices. We have to risk her to stop the Time Agency." He reasoned. The Doctor looked at Tess. She gave him a trusting smile.

"No." The Doctor said firmly, "We are not risking her." Jack started to say something but the Doctor sent him a stern look, "That's final." He looked back at Adam. "Who do you work for?"

"You don't need that information to surrender." Adam said with a sneer. "Now, I will be taking the TARDIS creature with me. And…" He walked towards the consul, glancing around. "Where is it?"

"Under the consul." muttered Tess. Adam glanced at her.

"Stay out of my head!" He jerked her sharply. "But since you know what I'm talking about, on your hands and knees!" He said, a disturbing smile flitting across his face. He gave the gun a suggestive wiggle, "If you try anything funny." Then he let go of her slowly, keeping the squarely aimed at her head.

"Doctor, should I-" Jack started

"No. Wait for it." The Doctor said mysteriously. Tess bent over, reaching out for the dematerialization circuit, knowing that was what Adam wanted.

Suddenly she was gone. Adam cursed, spinning around. But he wasn't fast enough.

He stumbled back, clutching his shoulder where blood was pouring out. Rose looked at Jack in surprise.

"I thought you had one of those laser-like guns from the future?"

"Sometimes you just need to see the spurt of blood." Jack said darkly. He looked back at Tess. "You all right, sweetheart? Sorry about possibly getting you shot. I can't let him get away. I knew you'd be okay, darling."

"No hard feelings." Tess said with a small smile.

"Rose!" The Doctor yelled. Tess and Jack both looked to see Rose running towards Adam, who had a triangular chip-like thing in his hand. Adam reached out to grab Rose, but she side-stepped him and turned to shove him to the ground, grabbing his gun.

"All right, give me the weird triangle bit o' metal." She said, leveling the gun, "No one calls me gullible."

"Now Rose, just calm down." Adam said, shuffling back on his butt. He seemed more like the clumsy idiot Rose remembered. She smiled.

"Maybe I'll calm down when I want, don'tcha think? I am the one holding the gun."

"Rose." The Doctor said softly, stepping up behind her and tenderly putting an arm on her shoulder. "Give me the gun."

"No." she said, trembling slightly, "He pulled the wool over our faces! He tricked us, Doctor! We _**saved **_him, and he was just pretending to be some curious idiot! He's a traitor!"

"Rose…" the Doctor said, stepping even closer and sliding a hand over her's, the gun under both their hands. "Come on. He isn't worth it. Don't beat yourself up over him."

A tear trickled out of her eye. The trembling lessened, and she leaned back against the Doctor. Suddenly she stiffened in his arms, her eyes going wide and a scream escaping her mouth. The Doctor looked at Adam, horrified.

Adam was holding a small pistol, freshly fired. The Doctor's eyes narrowed, his expression turning to rage. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a dark stain spreading from just under the swell of Rose's breasts down to her lower belly.

"Rose!" Tess shouted, running over. Rose's breath was ragged and wet sounding. The shot had hit her lungs. The Doctor desperately held her up. "You've got to keep her distracted. Don't let her go into shock!" She said, before flipping around, "Jack, come on!"

Jack went immediately into action, lunging for Adam. But Adam was on his feet, running for the door. He was gone before Jack could reach him, so Jack went tearing after him. Tess glanced at the Doctor.

"I have to help Jack. I'll be back. Stay with her!" She ordered before running after Jack.

The Doctor looked down at Rose. She was shaking, her breathing irregular and shallow and bubbling sickly. The blood was dripping to the floor now. The Doctor slowly lowered her, moving so her head was in his lap.

"Oh Rose…" He murmured, his face pale and drawn, "Stay with me. Please stay with me." Her eyes looked up at him.

"Doctor…I…I thought I could help." She murmured, coughing slightly. The Doctor looked at her quietly.

"Rose, you didn't have to do any of that."

"I just…wanted to prove I could…still travel with you. And help…That you didn't need…to replace me." She whispered. The Doctor stared at her.

"Rose. Of course you can. I would never even think twice about taking you with me. I never replaced you." He said. She smiled slightly, "You don't have to prove anything."

"But Martha-"

"Martha went home. We might visit, but she's going to be a doctor. She was not a replacement. She was never really going to stay long with me anyways. I knew that even before I found you again." He said.

"I...everything hurts so much. It's just…" She said, her eyes fluttering to close, her breathing becoming close to hyperventilating. He looked at her fearfully.

"Rose, stay with me!" He thought hard. The wheels turned furiously, more than they had before. He couldn't lose her. His supposed brilliance had to be good for something. He pulled her closer, gripping her tightly. She looked at him, her eyes unfocused. "Rose…I'm not…I don't think I can…" He trailed off, looking at her face; the slight bit of hair that stuck to her forehead with a sheen of sweat. The familiar sweet smile she was attempting to give him.

"It's all right Doctor…I got to see you again. It's enough."

"No Rose. It isn't." He said firmly, his eyes narrowing. She tried to laugh, but it sounded more like choking.

"Doctor…it's okay. No one expects you to come to the rescue every single time."

"You do." He said, deadpanned, "And I'm not going to let you down." He said, a little wrinkle appearing between his eyebrows as he thought hard. All these crazy things happening. Adam was back, and so was Jack. Crazy Jack. Jack who they had met during World War Two. Who had almost caused the whole of London to have gas masks for faces. Because of…he stopped. Then he broke into a smile. "I've got it!" He carefully lifted Rose up, bridal style, into his arms. She looked at him like he was crazy, "There's the look I love!" He said teasingly.

"What's…got you so happy?"

"World War Two!" He said. She blinked. "The nanobots!" He said, turning and going towards the med-bay. Rose smiled weakly saying,

"Ah. That sounds fantastic." He laughed at her quip.

"You're going to be just fine." He said with a grin, entering the hospital-like room. He set her down on the small bed, glancing around. "Now where did I put those things…?" He saw a small canister on a high shelf and leapt for them, spinning back around to Rose. He walked close, leaning down to examine her. He reached out to move the blood soaked shirt up and out of the way. A surprisingly neat hole was just slightly under her left breast, the skin around it stained red, and more blood oozing out. The Doctor frowned before he opened the canister over the wound. The nanobots streamed into the wound and the hole quickly disappeared. The Doctor collected them back up into the canister, then set it aside.

"How are you feeling now, Rose?" He asked, peering anxiously at her. She gave him a slow smile.

"Just tired now. Gross. I could use a shower." She said with a chuckle. He grinned, nodding in mock agreement.

"Yeah."

"Hey!"

"Just teasing." He replied, one hand smoothing over where her wound had been, almost tenderly. She watched him, her expression unreadable. The Doctor pulled back quickly, "Sorry."

"No…it's fine." She murmured. He straightened up, looking away.

"So, what do you say we find out where Tess and Jack have gotten to?" He said, his tone businesslike. Rose frowned a second, before she forced a smile.

"Yeah." She got to her feet, following him out of the medical room.

* * *

"I think he went that way!" Jack shouted to Tess, pointing down an alley. She shook her head.

"No way. I'm pretty sure he went this way."

"Pretty sure?"

"He's somehow messed with my sensors, I can't get a hold on him." She responded, frustrated. Jack nodded.

"Well then, let's trust my gut." He said, giving her a wink, "It's never been wrong."

"I highly doubt that." Tess replied, but followed him down the alley. About forty yards away, they glimpsed someone turning a corner.

"Is that him?" Jack asked, glancing at Tess. She frowned.

"I think so. My sensors are still screwed up." She replied, starting to pursue him anyways. Jack followed without hesitation. They ran down the street and around the corner.

Straight into a brick wall.

"What the bloody hell?" Tess said, staring at it. Jack frowned.

"Not to quote the Doctor, but that's impossible."

"Yeah…" She murmured, "Come on, let's get back to the TARDIS, we'll regroup and figure out another course of action." Jack agreed, and they both headed back.

* * *

_Surprised? At least a little? I wanted to play with the Time Agency a little bit. That's kind of my goal in this fanfic, besides mushy romance of course :-)_


	6. The Ninth Doctor

_I could waste my time with excuses....but instead, here's the chapter. Enjoy!**  
**_**  


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Chapter Six: The Ninth Doctor

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**

_She was somehow already feeling entirely at ease with this other Doctor, even though he wasn't __**her**__ Doctor

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_

Rose looked around her old room. It hadn't changed at all. She'd thought briefly that it had been given to Martha, but then she remembered the expanse of rooms in the TARDIS. It wouldn't be a problem to give her a new one.

The screen, easily locking onto Tess, had shown the Doctor that she and Jack were on their way back, so it was pointless to go chasing after them. Rose said that she was interested in exploring a bit, getting reacquainted with the TARDIS.

She went over to her bed, sitting on the edge of it and glancing at the pale blue sheets. She then saw the pillows were mussed up, which was not how she left them. She moved closer, lifting one of the pillows up to her face. She hesitated before burying her face in the soft fabric and inhaling. She pulled back in surprise.

She would know that smell anywhere.

"Rose?"

She turned, setting the pillow down in her lap. The Doctor stood in her doorway, watching her with raised eyebrows. She stared him down.

"Why were you in my room? After I was gone?" She asked, frowning. He cut a quick glance at the pillow, then back at her.

"What makes you think that?"

"Don't treat me like I'm stupid. You never did before." She said, "My bed was all messed up. And I know your smell. And it's all over my pillow." She whispered, her gaze steady on him. He looked back, his expression carefully in place.

"Rose I-"

"Just stop. Nevermind." She cut him off, "You aren't ever going to stop dancing around the subject, making stupid jokes to lighten the subject. And I don't want to hear the half truths." She stood quickly, tossing the pillow savagely onto her bed, before she looked at him challengingly, "The old you never shuffled this much. When he danced, it was with his feet." She turned sharply towards the bathroom that connected to her room, as if to storm off. But the Doctor stopped her.

"I missed you. I already told you that. Before I was able to find you briefly in Norway, I spent so many nights in here. Almost everything single one." He looked around the room, "And I still snuck in here occasionally when Martha was here." He moved closer to her, reaching out to pull her closer. "I could catch some semblance of sleep in here. And dream about you. It used to smell like you." He murmured into her hair. She caught it though, and smiled slightly.

"Honestly isn't so bad."

"Now who's trying to lighten the subject with stupid jokes?" He said, with a chuckle. She laughed.

"Okay. I'm sorry." She glanced up at him. "I missed you a lot. Those first few days I didn't think I'd be able to live without you…" He frowned.

"Rose?" He prodded. She shook her head quickly.

"It's nothing, I was just…thinking." She dismissed his prodding swiftly. The Doctor made a mental note to figure out what that was about later.

"Do you always compare me to my last regeneration?" He asked, frowning, remembering what she had said to him about dancing. Rose shrugged.

"No, not really." She leveled a look at him, "I just notice differences."

At that moment they could hear a knock on the front door of the TARDIS. Rose moved away.

"Well, let's go see who that could be." She said, forcing a cheerful expression. The Doctor frowned but followed.

Rose and the Doctor entered the control room, and she hung back as he went to open the door. Tess and Jack burst into the room.

"Well, that was a pointless chase." Jack grumbled

"What do you mean?" asked the Doctor, easily slipping back into his professional mode, as always.

"Well, we were chasing him, and almost had him but he disappeared behind a brick wall somehow." Tess explained, flopping down in a chair. She shook her head, "I'm not sure what we can do to find him. I can't sense him for some reason. I should be able to, with him not being from this dimension and everything, but he's…blocked." She frowned, "Even I have my limits."

"It's alright." Jack patted her shoulder and flashed a smile, which she returned easily, "We'll figure something out." He glanced up at the Doctor, then looked over at Rose. She stood to the side, looking awkward. Jack pursed his lips. He knew that stance. The familiar way she would stand to the side, staring into space while the Doctor rambled on about their next great adventure. He cut a glance at Tess, who had also noticed Rose. She nodded at Jack, and turned to the Doctor.

"You found the nanobots, I see." She said with a soft smile. The Doctor nodded, keeping his expression light.

"Yeah. Good thing I did!"

Jack made his way over to Rose, gently touching her shoulder. She looked at him.

"Are you all right?" He asked with concern. She forced a smile.

"Of course. Well, besides the whole Adam thing of course." A harsh laugh. Jack frowned.

"Rose. Come on."

"Well…" she sighed heavily. "The Doctor's just…being himself." She gave Jack a lopsided smile, "He may have a new body, and new mannerisms, but he's still the same old Doctor. And I'm still the same hopeful, optimistic Rose." She sighed, "Well, not really. I've learned a bit." Her smile faded and Jack draped his arm around her shoulders.

"Why don't we go out for a bit. We can catch up properly."

"Just us?" Rose asked

"Just us." He confirmed, "We'll leave the super-geniuses to their tinkering." He looked over at Tess and the Doctor. "Hey, Rose and I are going out." He called over.

"Okay." Tess replied easily.

"What?" The Doctor exclaimed, spinning around, "You can't just 'go out'. There is a crazy Adam out there looking for us!"

"Well, Rose is going to show me around this version of Cardiff, and Tess can keep an 'eye' on us. Plus, she'll sense trouble an instant, right Tess?"

"Righto, Jack." She replied with a grin. The Doctor gave her a glare.

"And Adam isn't a problem." Jack said, a tinge of menace creeping into his tone, as his free hand brushed against the gun at his side.

"What about something else the Time Agency sends after us?" The Doctor reason, "The TARDIS is the only safe place right now."

"Well, Rose and I feel cramped in here. You and Tess can bond and figure out plans and such." Jack said, tugging Rose along with him. She moved easily, glancing at the Doctor for a moment, before she followed Jack out the door. The Doctor kicked the consul with a muttered expletive.

"Ow." Tess said, glowering. He looked at her.

"Oh, sorry. I don't understand it. Why is she going off with Jack?" He seemed to be talking to himself, but Tess knew better. He was just used to her being the TARDIS and not having to direct his speech.

"She just needs time to adjust to you being back." She said softly.

"She doesn't seem to need to adjust to Jack." He said, grimacing.

"Well, she didn't spend two years missing Jack." Tess said bluntly. The Doctor looked at her.

"Oh. Right then. Let's figure out this Time Agency problem."

* * *

"I dunno, Jack, he's just…all hugs and touching one second, then all business the next. It so infuriating." She complained, giving another lick to the ice cream in her hand. Jack shrugged.

"Yeah, the Doctor can be stupid at times."

"Really thick." She murmured in agreement. They walked a little further along the sidewalk, looking out at the water.

"Well, I say the next time he starts spewing all that technical crap; you just shove him against a wall and kiss the hell out of him." Jack said with a wink. Rose looked at him with raised eyebrow.

"Don't you think if snogging would set him straight, I would have done it a long time ago?"

"So you've already tried kissing him?" Jack asked with a grin. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Not really. I mean; it wasn't really…oh, nevermind. It just wouldn't work." She licked the ice cream again. Jack chuckled and shrugged.

"All right, but you better figure something out before I lock you two up in a closet. Naked."

"Jack." She chided, half-heartedly. He smirked.

"You wouldn't mind, admit it."

"I will admit nothing." She said with a laugh, moving backwards away from Jack. She bumped into someone.

"'Hey, watch it!" said a voice. Rose recognized the voice and turned around to apologize.

The ice cream cone fell from her hands straight onto a pair of familiar black boots. Rose stared at the man. Jack gasped from behind her. The man looked back with a confused expression.

"Are you alright?" He said, raising an eyebrow.

"I-I-" Rose tried to say something, but she was at a lose for words.

"Hey, maybe you can help me." He said, giving her a wide smile. She gulped. "I'm looking for this…uh…robot looking thing. You seen anything like that around?" He continued, in a thick northern accent. Rose took a deep, steadying breath.

"Um. I…" She tried again, and failed. The man was now giving her a look like he regretted talking to her. He glanced down at his shoes.

"I liked these shoes." He muttered, giving a little kick to flick most of the ice cream off of the boots. Rose glanced down at the boots, followed them to a pair of dark jeans, up to a jumper under a heavy black leather jacket. That led to a pair of oversized, but adorable ears and bright blue eyes.

"How is that…possible…?" murmured Jack from behind Rose.

"Doctor?" Rose whispered. The ninth Doctor blinked at her.

"Do I know you?"

"You're…from this dimension…" Rose whispered, connecting the dots, "You don't…know me."

"What?" The Doctor said, his forehead wrinkling in confusion. "Dimension?" He tilted his head, "You…recognize me, but I've never met you. But you've met some version of me, right?"

Rose laughed.

"Yah. Same old Doctor. Do you ever turn that brain of yours off?"

"No." He said with a lopsided smile. "I'm the Doctor. And you are?"

"Rose. Rose Tyler." She said, her tone one of awe as she experienced a déjà vu sensation that could be explained.

"Well, nice to meet you Rose Tyler. Now, the robot?" He prodded. Rose shook her head.

"We got rid of him a bit ago. He isn't a problem anymore."

"Ah, well then. That's good." He said with a nod. He looked back at Jack. "I didn't catch your name."

"Captain Jack Harkness." Jack said with a smile, adjusting easily.

_Rose. I uh…sense something rather interesting near you. _Tess's familiar voice floated into Rose's head.

_Yah, Tess. You're a bit late._

_ You mean…_

_ Yah._

_ Stay right there. Keep him there._

"So you know who I am?" The Doctor asked, starting to frown, "Wouldn't that mean that…either you aren't from this dimension, or I'm taking companions not from my own dimension?"

"I'm not originally from this dimension." Rose said, with a slightly dazed expression.

"Really? Why am I here then? I mean, the other me." The Doctor said. Rose blinked. "I realize this is quite confusing."

"Yes. But uh, you're here because Tess brought you here." Rose said. It was the Doctor's turn for a confused expression. "I mean…the TARDIS. From my dimension. I got stuck in this dimension because of the Daleks and Cybermen, and the TARDIS thought that the Doctor and I had unfinished business." She paused to scoff, "Of which she has no idea what she's talking about." She was somehow already feeling entirely at ease with this other Doctor, even though he wasn't _her _Doctor. "Anyway, even though Tess seems to think bringing him here to see me again will somehow change things, now we're trying to deal with the Time Agency, which Jack here used to work for, and we've just discovered Adam still does. He ran off with some materializing circuit or something, and now we're stuck here until we can get it back. And on top of that, you, well, the other you, is being absolutely impossible! I mean, he's all worried about me, saying he's so glad he found me one second, and ignoring me for blathering about tech stuff Tess the next!"

The ninth Doctor stared at her, slowing processing her hurried speech. Jack moved forward.

"Rose." He said quietly, putting his arms on her shoulders, "Maybe we shouldn't reveal so much to him. We don't want to influence anything."

"Influence what?"

"Well, he's obviously on a different timeline than us. Not only is he not our Doctor, but he looks like…the old Doctor. The new Doctor hasn't happened yet for him."

"Oh. Right." Rose said. The Doctor frowned, opening his mouth to reply.

"Rose!"

The blond spun to see her Doctor and Tess running over to them. She smiled slightly, in spite of being mad at the Doctor. Tess stopped next to Jack, smiling at him.

"Miss me?"

"Only every second." Jack replied with a wink. Tess smirked. The tenth Doctor stopped next to Rose, looking at her carefully before he turned his attention to the ninth Doctor.

"Well. This is interesting."

"It certainly is. Am I to assume you...?" questioned the ninth Doctor.

"Yup. The Doctor, at your service."

"But you…don't look like me." He paused, "Ah, of course. Dimensions are not the same. There is some difference between our two dimensions, something that happened in yours that caused you to regenerate that did not happen in this dimension."

"Me." Whispered Rose, suddenly comprehending. Her Doctor's hand reached out, clasping her and giving it a reassuring squeeze. The ninth Doctor looked at her, a question look in his eyes, "Well…I'm the reason that you…well, my Doctor" she gave an affection glance to the tenth Doctor, "regenerated."

"You put my life in danger?" The ninth Doctor asked, horrified.

"Oh no." The tenth Doctor interjected. "Certainly not. She saved me. But…what she did to save me…" He looked at Rose softly, "I had to save her." He looked back at his alternate self, "She looked into the TARDIS."

"And survived?" The ninth Doctor said, his eyes wide. He glanced at Rose, "She's human, right?"

"Oh yes. Very human. But very special." The tenth replied, swinging his and her arm lightly. She chuckled.

"She said something about your dematerialization circuit being stolen?" The ninth Doctor asked, changing the subject, as he gave their entwined hands a suspicious look.

"Oh yah, that's what it's called." Rose said.

"Yes. A…former 'friend' took it." The tenth Doctor said, frowning. The other Doctor nodded.

"Well, I suppose I'll help you get it back so that you can return to your own dimension and leave this one to me. Where is your TARDIS?"

Everyone glanced at Tess. The ninth Doctor stared at her before tilting his head.

"You…remind me of…"

"Yes. It's complicated, but I am the TARDIS in a sort of human form." Tess said with a sigh, "Come on, the faster we fix the TARDIS, the faster we can end this complicated mess."

"But you are the TARDIS." The ninth Doctor said with confusion.

"I am her soul, her spirit. Her physical form is the one that needs fixing. Call me Tess."

"Tess? Where on earth did you come up with that?" asked the ninth Doctor.

"Yeah. I've been wondering that too." Jack agreed. Tess laughed.

"Tesseract."

"Ah. Cute." Jack said with a laugh. Both Doctors nodded, both pairs of eyes showing that they were properly impressed.

"Tesseract?" Rose asked. The tenth Doctor glanced at her.

"It's basically…a cube within a cube with a cube. A hypercube, if you will. It's bigger on the inside than the outside. It's four dimensional. " He explained. Rose nodded dumbly, not asking anything more.

* * *

_Since that was like, the shortest chapter on the face of the planet. I shall give you another..._


	7. The Ape and the Wanker

_And here you are!_**  


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Chapter Seven: The ape and the wanker

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**

_"You definitely need to blend in. Nothing like an ape with yellow hair in a blue dress to ruin an undercover mission."

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_

They arrived back at the TARDIS and entered easily.

"Well, at least this still looks the same." murmured the ninth Doctor. He moved to the consul, glancing at it casually. "Though a couple things have moved around"

"Yah. She changes her mind about things. You know." The tenth Doctor responded.

"Yeah."

"Standing right here." said Tess, rolling her eyes.

"Get used to it." said Jack with a grin. She smiled back. "He always talks about people as if they weren't standing directly in front of him."

"Hullo Jack." The tenth doctor said with a wide grin. Rose was hanging back, looking at the ninth Doctor constantly. He was more focused on the TARDIS, and even Tess.

"So how'd you manage it?" He asked Tess.

"Doubting my immense abilities?" She asked with a smile. The ninth doctor grinned.

"Of course not. I just never thought you'd manage a human body."

"It isn't really human. Just looks like it." She answered. He nodded. The tenth Doctor glanced at Rose, seeing her over by herself. He moved over to her.

"Hey. Why are you hanging back like that? Come and be friendly! It's not every day that you get to meet me twice!" He said cheerfully. She glanced at him.

"I did get to meet you twice."

"Oh yeah. Well, you know what I meant."

"Yeah. It's just…so weird. To see him…"

"Me." He corrected, an edge to his tone. He could feel that annoyance he always felt when people treated his regenerations like different people.

"You." She amended. "It's strange to see you, like that, and not have you look back at me with any sort of recognition." She said, almost wistfully. The Doctor frowned, realizing he was getting ahead of himself. This wasn't a regeneration issue.

"Well, I guess he's not really me. Not from our dimension. He doesn't know you."

"Well obviously." She said, peeved. "I was just saying it was strange." She glanced away, "Nevermind."

There was a minute of uncomfortable silence before Jack wandered over, Tess and the ninth Doctor still talking.

"So what do you think of him?" Jack asked, looking at the pair. He took one look at Rose, then grinned widely, "It's strange, isn't it?" Rose smiled back, nodding. The tenth Doctor glowered at them. Jack shrugged. "Well, we just need to pretend that it isn't him." He glanced at the tenth Doctor, "The old you, that is."

"I can't do that." murmured Rose, her gaze wandering back over, "I mean…he looks just like him. It's like pretending I didn't know Pete." She said, looking at the tenth Doctor.

"I see." He responded to her statement, her explanation. Jack smiled lightly.

"Well, then just try to be friends." He pulled her forward, slipping his arm around her waist. The tenth Doctor glanced at the contact with an irritated expression. Jack approached the ninth Doctor, Rose in tow. "Hi there." He said with a grin. The ninth Doctor nodded a greeting. Tess looked at Rose, worried. Rose was silent.

Suddenly the TARDIS shook violently.

Rose and Jack both fell to the ground roughly, and even the two Doctors stumbled. Tess remained unmoving, looking sharply at the door.

"What?" The tenth Doctor yelped, running to the TARDIS consul. Tess narrowed her eyes.

"Someone is trying to get inside." She said, her tone solemn.

"Well then, let's go see what we can do to convince them to stop." The ninth Doctor. His dark expression contradicted his light words. Tess immediately shook her head.

"No, no, no. There are many people out there. And they all have weapons. And I have a sense that they will not hesitate to use them. Adam is with them." She frowned and the tenth Doctor made a similar expression. Jack helped Rose up, keeping his arms around her comfortingly.

"Well, they probably won't get in anyways." The tenth Doctor said quietly. Tess again shook her head.

"They have somehow used the demat circuit to create some sort of lock-pick device." She said. "We have very little time."

"Well then, anyone have any ideas?" The tenth Doctor asked cheerfully.

"I may have one or two." Jack said, patting the weapon in his pocket suggestively.

"I think I have one. Well, it's at least part of an idea." Tess said hopefully.

"Well, let's hear it." The ninth Doctor said, leaning casually on the TARDIS consul.

"Well, Adam doesn't know about you, and he thinks Rose is dead." She began. The ninth Doctor raised an eyebrow, and the tenth Doctor glanced at Rose, giving her a tender expression. She smiled back bravely. "I say that you and her go into the medical bay. Rose, lay on the examination table, and if you would hide under it, Doctor." She indicated the ninth Doctor, "I will manipulate any sort of scanners they have so they read dead, and don't even sense you, Doctor. After all, there should only be one life reading that matches the Doctor's" She chuckled, and the two Doctors laughed lightly.

"What about the rest of us?" Jack asked.

"We stay here and take our chances. We all have better chances of surviving with those gun-crazies anyways."

The TARDIS rocked again, and everyone stumbled, except Tess again. The tenth Doctor shook his head.

"I'm not just leaving Rose here alone." He glanced at her. She smiled weakly. The ninth Doctor narrowed his eyes. Tess sighed.

"Doctor, she isn't going to be alone."

"Apparently I don't count." The ninth Doctor said sardonically. The tenth Doctor frowned.

"I'm just saying I don't think it's a good idea."

"I think it's a great idea." Rose said softly. The tenth Doctor glanced at her.

The TARDIS shook again, more violently this time. A whirring, metallic sound could be heard at the door.

"We don't have time, Rose, Doctor, into the med bay now!" Tess said sharply. The ninth Doctor started off immediately. Jack gave Rose a reassuring squeeze on the hip before letting her follow after him. The tenth Doctor intercepted her, reaching for her hand and pulling her into a hug. The ninth Doctor stopped, looking back with some frustration.

"You'll be okay." He whispered into her ear.

"Why do I get the impression that's more for you than me?" She replied quietly.

"He doesn't know you, remember that." The Doctor said, "He isn't the old Doctor you knew. I remember how I was before I met you. I was dark, and it was hard for me to care about anything or anyone. So keep that in mind." He pulled back from her, reaching a hand up to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. "He won't fight for you like I would. Be careful." He muttered. Then he let her go and she followed the ninth Doctor to the medical bay.

"All right, lay down." He said sharply, moving down to slide under the examination table. She glanced at him, her eyes narrowing.

"You don't need to be such a wanker to me just because you don't want to be stuck here with some stupid ape." She said, sitting down hard on the table, then laying down. He looked up at her in surprise.

"It isn't because you are a stupid ape. It's the silly way you and him behave. He's gone soft." He said in irritation. She looked at him challengingly.

"I know I'm not the first companion you've 'gone soft' for." She glanced away, "As much as I hate to say that." The ninth Doctor again was taken aback. He tilted his head.

"Rose Tyler, you are certainly an interesting woman." Then he slid fully under the table. Rose was about to reply when there was a loud explosion from the control room. She went still, trying to listen.

Jack had his gun out immediately as the door blew open, Adam in the lead and about ten or fifteen men following. Jack fired, but Adam had already grabbed the shoulder of a guy to his left, pulling the lackey in front of him. The laser hit true and the nameless man fell to the ground.

"Well, how do you feel now, Jack?" Adam asked with a sneer, his gun trained on Jack.

"Fantastic." Jack replied with a bright grin. The Doctor looked quickly at Jack, then back at Adam. Adam tilted his head for a moment, calculating.

"Then the rumored information on you is correct." He said to Jack, a cold smile on his face. He turned the gun onto the Doctor, and all the uniformed men followed suit. "How do you feel about this, Jack?"

The Doctor exchanged glances with Jack, and then looked back at Adam.

"Adam, you should really think about this." He paused, "Who do you work for?" Adam burst out laughing.

"Right, 'cause I'm just gonna tell you so easily." He looked around, "Where's Rose?" His smile became snide and smirking. The Doctor narrowed his eyes but said nothing.

"What does it matter?" Tess said harshly, stepping forward. Adam immediately trained his gun on her. She laughed. "I know you won't shoot me. It defeats your mission entirely."

"We are after the TARDIS." Adam replied calmly, "I believe by standing inside it I've accomplished my mission."

"Do you know how to use her?" The Doctor said with a tiny smile. Adam frowned. "See, you haven't accomplished it after all. And I would bet that your boss wants Tess anyways, to figure her out. I'm becoming familiar with your Time Agency. She's an oddity. Therefore, she must be examined. Am I right?" The Doctor asked. Adam didn't response but his poker face was definitely failing. "So, by that conclusion, you need both myself and Tess alive. And we both know you can't do anything to Jack anyway. It seems you've run out of options, Adam."

"That's what you think." Adam sneered and fired his gun.

It hit Tess in the shoulder and she doubled over with a sharp cry. The Doctor was immediately at her side, looking her over critically.

"Are you all right?" He demanded. She nodded, biting her lip as she pressed her hand to the wound, black oily liquid pouring out. The Doctor flipped around, glaring at Adam. "There was no need for that!"

"Get them." He responded calmly. The uniformed men launched themselves at the Doctor and his companions, tackling them all to the floor. There was a sound from down the hall. Adam turned towards it sharply.

"What was that?" He pulled a strange device out of his pocket, waving it at the noise. "No signs of life..." He murmured.

"The ol' girl is creaky." The Doctor said cheerfully, even as the guards held him down on the ground. Jack was still trying to fight to get free. Adam glanced at the group with a bored expression.

"Use the tasers." He said casually.

"Tasers? That won't work on me." Tess said. The guards pulled out a strange, elongated looking device, that was similar to a taser, except instead of having the prongs at the end, it had some sort of injection looking device. The uniformed men put it to the throat of Tess, Jack, and the Doctor and there was a soft hiss as the strange substance was injected into their jugular.

Immediate sleep.

* * *

Rose remained still even while she heard the Doctor, Tess, and Jack being taken away and the door being closed on the TARDIS. She didn't move or say anything while she heard someone rooting around the main room. They grumbled some expletive when they couldn't get down the hallway to explore further, and Rose gave silent thanks to Tess and the temperamental ways of the TARDIS.

She felt the TARDIS being moved, and then a soft vibration underneath her like whatever the TARDIS was on was moving. It didn't take long before all the sound stopped. She didn't want to give Adam any reason to check her location with more than a scanner. It wasn't until after a couple minutes of silence did she sit up slowly. The Doctor slid out from underneath her and stood, immediately glaring at her. She frowned.

"What?" She demanded peevishly.

"You almost gave away our position with that show of compassion." He was referring to her sitting up sharply when she heard her friends getting tackled to the floor. She glared at him.

"Excuse me if I thought I could help."

"You can't. Period. You would have only gotten captured yourself. And where would that have put you in the great plan of rescuing your friends?" He demanded.

"At least I try." She replied sharply. "I don't strut around like some high and mighty arsehole. You act like the world revolves around you!"

"Sort of, yah." He said. She blinked, then burst out laughing, all her anger draining away. The Doctor stared at her like she'd gone mad. She reached out and grabbed his hand, slipping it into her own. He glanced down at it in surprise, looking for a moment like he was going to snatch it away, but then changed his mind. Rose smiled at him.

"Let's go save our friends."

"Our?"

"Yes." She said firmly, pulling him out of the med-bay. He walked with her easily and they made their way cautiously to the control room. The Doctor looked around quickly to make sure the TARDIS was in working order. He pulled his hand from Rose's, going to kneel down by the base of the consul.

"Looks like they still have the demat circuit. We can't go anywhere."

"Well, we've definitely moved..." Rose murmured, looking at the screen sitting on the consul. It showed some sort of high tech warehouse that reminded her of the place she had first met Adam. "What's the plan?" She asked, looking at the Doctor. He smiled.

"So you're letting me lead now?"

"For a little while." She said with a smirk. His smile widened.

"All right. First step, get out of here unnoticed." He glanced around.

Rose adjusted the screen so she could see a little more of the warehouse. Her eyes focused on the couple guards standing in front of the TARDIS.

"Sounds to me like we need to blend in." She said with a cat-like grin. The Doctor chuckled. He looked her up and down. She was still in the blue party dress she'd bought with Tess.

"You definitely need to blend in. Nothing like an ape with yellow hair in a blue dress to ruin an undercover mission." He said, smirking slightly. Rose rolled her eyes, then looked back at the guards on the screen. She stuck her tongue out of the side of her mouth, her brow creasing in thought. The Doctor stared. There was something endearing about that little motion with her tongue. Adorable, almost. He shoved the thought away. The Great Oncoming Storm did not find apes "adorable".

The yellow haired ape walked lightly to the door of the TARDIS, slowing turning the lock on the door. She glanced at the Doctor, raising her eyes in question.

"Ready?"

"For what?" He asked. She sighed in exasperation.

"To get out of here."

"Again, I don't think it's going to be a dance club out there. How do you expect to get past the guards?" He replied. She huffed before jerking the door to the TARDIS open sharply. The two guards spun around.

"What the-" Rose promptly shot them with a small, sleek gun.

"You just shot them!" The Doctor said, staring. Rose sighed.

"Stunned, Doctor. Now help me!" She was trying to drag one of the guards into the TARDIS.

"Oh, right." The ninth Doctor said, promptly going over and dragging the second guard into the consul room. Rose shut and locked the door behind them, then looked down at the unconscious men.

"Okay. Now comes the stripping." She said, looking up at the Doctor with a smirk.

There was that tongue of hers again. The Doctor blinked. She kneeled down and started on the men's jackets, then shirts, then pants. Soon both guards were just in a thin white tank top and boxers.

"I could have used some help." Rose said, annoyed. The Doctor just stood back, arms crossed, watching her.

"Seemed like you hand it under control." He paused. "So, do you work for UNIT?"

"Do I work for what?" She asked.

"UNIT. United Nations Intelligent Taskforce." He repeated, like he was speaking to a five year old. Rose frowned. She knew that name. Torchwood knew about them. Annoying militant buggers.

"I most certainly do not." She said with some irritation, "I work for Torchwood." She said proudly, getting to her feet. "And now, if you wouldn't mind, we need to change"

A wad of clothes hit his head.

"Oof! What was that for?"

"It's for wearing, Doctor." She said, as if to a young child. "Now keep your eyes to yourself." The Doctor turned away slightly, looking down at the clothes she had thrown at him. Meanwhile, Rose was pulling the pants on while still wearing her dress. Then she pulled the blue thing over her head, tossing it to the side.

The Doctor glanced at her for a moment, thinking she was done dressing. She certainly wasn't. She had the pants hanging loosely from her hips, not zipped or buttoned. She was wearing a sort of small strap around her chest. It was a dark red color and seemed to be…lacy? He blinked a moment, before he remembered the covering that human females wore to cover their breasts. This was different from what he had encountered in the past. It was much, much tinier. And redder. And lacy. He turned back around quickly. He somehow knew that Rose would not appreciate that he had seen that.

She glanced down at the bra. "Oh bloody hell. Why did I decide to wear this? It's certainly not practical." She grumbled before she pulled on the plain shirt then buckled up the vest, checking some of the weapons holstered there. Nothing too unfamiliar to her.

Then she glanced at the Doctor. His back was to her, and he seemed to be standing very stiffly, still in his own clothes.

"Doctor!"

He flinched, turning slowly. Okay, she was dressed now. He tried to relax.

"Yes?" He asked, his voice coming out an octave higher than he would have liked. Rose didn't seem to notice though.

"Why haven't you changed?" She demanded.

"Oh. Right then." He laughed half-heartedly, immediately unbuckling his pants and pulling them off. He expected Rose to give him the same privacy she had asked for, but to his surprise she studied him quietly as he stripped. He didn't understand why he felt so…naked when she looked at him like that. Well, sure, he was _technically_ mostly naked, but that didn't usually bother him. He didn't have that weird need to not have his bare skin viewed like human apes did. Until this yellow haired young woman looked at him so…

Did she just lick her lips? He blinked rapidly before he pulled the military garb on quickly. Rose looked up at him then, the glassy expression leaving her face, replaced with determination.

"All right. Now, I believe we can fit in." She said.

"I don't think so." The Doctor said.

"Why not?"

"Well, it's not like yellow haired females are common in this place." He said flatly. Rose huffed, rooting around in the many pockets of the vest before she came up with a dark colored handkerchief. She pulled her hair up into it.

"There. Does that satisfy you?" She said, raising an eyebrow challengingly. The Doctor smiled.

"For now."

They exited the TARDIS slowly, looking around. Rose locked it behind her. She glanced at the Doctor.

"You don't have a key to this TARDIS. Does yours work for this one?"

"Probably not." He said.

"Then make sure you stick with me." She said, with a bright smile. She walked away and the Doctor stared after her. She certainly was a strange ape. He was beginning to see why he had picked her up in the other dimension. She was already chasing the loneliness away in the tiny bits of time he had known her. He followed.

* * *

_Strange course of events, huh? Anyway, hopefully it was at least tolerable :)  
And remember, the more reviews, the faster I update. Just let me know!  
_


	8. The President of the Time Agency

_Okay guys, thanks for all the reviews! Loved 'em. And here is your reward!_

_To be honest...this is one of my favorite chapters :-) But that's is much because I so love seeing Tess kick ass. TARDIS power!_

* * *

**Chapter Eight: The President of the Time Agency **

* * *

_"I am not a robot. I am Time and Relative Dimension In Space."_

* * *

"Dammit!" yelled Jack, kicking away a rock. He gave his shackles one last tug, but like the first twenty times, nothing happened. The Doctor glanced at the American quietly.

"You really should just stop."

"And give up like you? I don't think so." Jack said stubbornly. The Doctor frowned.

"I haven't given up. I just know my limitations. And breaking out of shackles is one of them. Well, since Adam took the sonic screwdriver, that is."

"Well that doesn't mean you should just mope about like all it lost." Jack said.

"Who says I'm moping? I'm merely waiting for the situation to change." The Doctor reasoned. Jack hesitated. That did sound smart. Damn. Jack settled back against the stone wall.

"All right. Then we wait." They were quiet for a couple moments. "Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"What about Tess? What do you think they're doing to her?"

"I don't know Jack. All I know is I can still sense her. So she's still alive."

"Well. Alive is all well and good, but we still don't know what those bastards are doing to her."

"I know that Jack. But as I said before, there is nothing I can do until the situation changes."

"Rose is right. You have changed. The old Doctor would never have just sat around. Not when Tess and Rose are still in danger." Jack said, going to work on his shackles again.

"Just…just shut up Jack." The Doctor said miserably. Jack froze, staring at the Doctor. He'd never heard anything like that from the Time Lord. "I'm different now. My tactics are different now. So just get used to it."

They were quiet again.

"At least Rose is with the old 'fist first, head later', Doctor. She could probably use a dose of him right now." Jack reasoned quietly. The tenth Doctor grimaced.

"That isn't comforting, Jack."

"I think it is. I'm a big fan of the 'fist first, head later' tactic myself." He suddenly gave a yell of triumph and started wriggling in a strange way.

"What are you doing now?" The Doctor demanded.

"Well see, I've been working on a sort of sonic device myself now, since I ran into you and it seemed so useful."

"Okay! You got something right for once!" The Doctor said happily. He glanced at Jack. "So where is it?"

"Well, since I know all about being in sticky situations and how they check you for hidden weapons and such, I hid it in the place I save for emergency weapons."

"Jack." The Doctor said, his eyes going wide.

"And since my own hands are shackled….I don't think I'll be able to reach it…"

"Jack…" The Doctor repeated, starting to shake his head.

"Come on, Doctor, drastic situations call for drastic measures! And you did say you were waiting for the situation to change"

"Oh Rassilion, I never thought it would have to be this drastic." The Doctor muttered, shuffling closer to Jack.

* * *

"Perhaps she'll cooperate if we bring the men in and torture them in front of her." Adam said, leaning back in his chair. Tess sat across from him, her expression calm. Adam was speaking to what appeared to be a mirror behind Tess. The redhead grinned like a Cheshire cat.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you Adam? The two men who showed you up in life. Jack in the Time Agency, and the Doctor when you were trying to go above and beyond the Agency. You'd like to torture them, wouldn't you?" Her voice was husky, mesmerizing. Adam tried to shake it off.

"I don't know what you're doing, but you'd better stop it!"

"Or what? You'll tell on me? Do it!" Tess stood, slamming her shackled hands on the table. "Let's see who's in charge of this great Time Agency!"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Adam challenged. Suddenly the door behind Adam opened and a shadow stepped into the doorframe.

"Hello Tess," came a voice. A familiar voice. Tess spun around. The woman stepped into the light. "Harriet Jones; President of the Time Agency."

The human form of the TARDIS gaped. For the first time she could form no words. Adam jumped to his feet.

"Miss Jones. It's not necessary for you to be here."

"Nonsense Adam. I shall take over this interview now, if you don't mind." Harriet said with a smile. Adam nodded quickly, exiting the room. The former Prime Minister entered the room, closing the door behind her. She moved to stand behind Adam's chair. Tess sank back into her's. "Now, Tess. If it's not a bother, I would greatly appreciate if you would cooperate and help us in building our own TARDIS."

"I don't think so." Tess said stubbornly. Harriet frowned.

"That's really a shame, now. I did hope that you would listen to a woman's advice. But it can't be helped. No reason to force you into something you don't want to do."

"Really?" Tess said, raising an eyebrow.

"Truly. Of course, this means that I have no use for you anymore. I shall dispose of you, the Doctor, lock that American up somewhere where he will not be a nuisance, and cannibalize the TARDIS." She responded coolly. It was almost creepy to see the bubbly, polite, ex-reporter, former Prime Minister telling Tess so calmly how she was going to kill her and the Doctor before destroying the TARDIS to make some disturbing recreation.

"Are you really in charge of the Time Agency?" Tess asked, stalling. Harriet smiled brightly

"Oh Tess. I know you are stalling for time, but I will humor you. It will do no harm." Harriet said cheerfully, "Of course I am the President of the Time Agency. You see, I'm actually the first British president, which is actually quite funny. Therefore I had to prove myself, of course. The Time Agency's main objective is and has always been the Doctor. So of course, to prove myself I decided to show them just how close I could get to the Doctor. I knew the weak spot for the bloke. His companion. And Rose was certainly an extreme weak spot. Even when I ran into her with the Doctor, I could tell he was already absolutely infatuated."

"He pretty much became obsessed with her the moment she used that gymnastic move to save his life." said Tess conversationally.

"I'm sorry?"

"Oh, nothing. Just something that happened during the Autons." murmured Tess.

"Ah. We weren't able to monitor that one entirely."

"Anyway. So you secured you Presidency."

"Pretty much right before I secured my position as Prime Minister. It worked out quite well. Of course, the Doctor still became a problem. I was able to have Torchwood try and stop the Sycorax, and then I was going to get Rose to hand over the TARDIS. Unfortunately, the Doctor recovered from his regeneration sickness quite well."

"You know about…that condition?" Tess asked, dumbfounded. Harriet Jones trilled a laugh.

"Of course, sweetheart. We know many things about the Doctor. And thanks to Adam, we also know many things about the Doctor…_**and Rose**_." The President smiled a sadistic smile and Tess shuddered. "And now, thanks to you, we have the TARDIS at last. It really is a pity that we lost Rose in the process…" Harriet said with a sigh, "But we've gained so much more."

"You are horrid." Tess hissed. She didn't even have to force herself to pretend Rose was dead. She was disgusted at Harriet's response regardless. Harriet shrugged.

"It really isn't my problem anymore." She paused, "Now, Tess." Another paused, and another sick smile, "You like being called that. Tess. Like you are an actual being. But you aren't, really. And therefore, I have no problem killing you. If you can even call it killing." Harriet finished in a business-like tone. She then stood up, reaching to her side where a small pistol rested.

"I have one more question Madame President." Tess said quickly. Harriet hesitated. Flattery worked it's magic.

"Yes?" She asked, putting her hand down. She didn't sit, however.

"How did you and Adam manage to jump dimensions? I didn't think you had such capabilities." Tess said smoothly. Harriet preened.

"Well. Jack helped with that one. We do have some brilliant scientists. They were working on a quick jump dimensional capsule. Unfortunately, they had yet to find a power source that would sustain the jump. The TARDIS is quite extraordinary."

"Yes, I know." Tess said in a strained voice.

"Anyway, our organization had heard rumors about a man that could not die. They say the very spirit of Time ran through his veins. And we had our suspicions." Harriet explained. "And if true, it would be a wondrous power source. So we dropped hints for our former agent. We knew how…attached he could get. The reason for having to fire him, actually." Harriet said, with a laugh. "We knew getting to Rose would be an interest of his. And Rose would get us to the Doctor. So we merely dropped some hints, and voila! The rest was easy as well…pie!" Harriet said with a laugh. "He proved a marvelous power source. We tapped it, and we could jump a couple times. Once he was over here and looking for Rose, we had to use up our stores and save our jumps until we could get him close again. Right now, though he thinks he is in a dungeon being held captive with the Doctor, he actually feeding us the bio-timilogical energy he holds."

"Why not the Doctor? Wouldn't he be a bigger source?" Tess asked.

"Yes. He would. But he would notice a tug on his biological structure immediately. Then I'm sure he would be smart enough to stop it. And I can't have that."

"So you aren't going to kill me." Tess said. Harriet blinked.

"Excuse me." She flicked the gun in a threatening motion. Tess merely stared.

"That is not a gun. I've learned your ways in a short time. You are all about uses. Killing me rids me of my use. However, you could render me unconscious and then you could get all the Time stream-based energy you could ever want."

Harriet was quiet, her face showing surprise at Tess's statement. Which also testified that Tess's statement was entirely true.

"Smart and sassy in this humanoid form aren't you?" Harriet said with a stiff smile. Tess beamed

"I get it from my Doctor. We're so very much alike. Now." She stood and pulled her hands apart sharply, the shackles bursting into pieces. Harriet gasped, stumbling back.

"But…but we've used those shackles on Cybermen before, and the Restan Warrior robot. Neither of them could escape it. No strength should be able to break them."

"Harriet Jones." Tess said, in a disappointed voice. She picked up a piece of the handcuff, turning it every which way, examining it. She then looked up sharply, "I am not a robot. I am Time and Relative Dimension In Space."

She flung the piece of metal at Harriet, and it was well-aimed, hitting her sharply on the head. She crumpled. Tess stepped closer, looking down at the inert form. "I may be humanoid to all appearances but I'm all TARDIS when it counts." She finished quietly, before she picked up the gun Harriet had dropped and turned, striding out of the room.

* * *

_So? Surprise? No?  
Don't get me wrong, I love Harriet. This was written way before Journey's End and all that when Harriet did that awesome saving stuff. But I just thought she would make a perfect Agency President. And remeber, the Agency's goal isn't to destroy the doctor anyway. In fact, I could see her still helping him in Journey's End if she were a member...after all, it isn't like the Daleks would like the Time Agency anyways._


	9. The Ninth Doctor Again

_That last chapter was sort of short, so I thought you could use another dose ;-)_

* * *

**Chapter Nine: The Ninth Doctor…again**

* * *

_She pushed up on her toes, kissing him again, harshly, leaving all the walls of her mind down and inviting him in._

* * *

Walking down the hallway with the ninth Doctor had Rose reminiscing. Unnecessarily, she decided, shoving memory lane away for another time. She was seriously worried about what had happened to Jack and her Doctor, and especially Tess. She needed to remember about them. Not running around, just her and the Northern accented Doctor. It was strange how easily she shifted into her "Torchwood mode", as her mum called it.

God, her mum.

Jackie was going to blow a gasket when Rose got back.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Rose had shifted into her work mode, her eyes and ears keenly peeled, the stun gun ready to shoot. She didn't want to mention to the Doctor that she actually had no clue it was a stun gun before she used it in the TARDIS. And she didn't care. Such was the way she'd changed since leaving her Doctor. She'd resorted back briefly to happy shop girl when she'd found him again, especially not wanting him to see her that way. But this Doctor who was following her had no idea who she was or what she had been like before.

The ninth Doctor tried to reason that he was following the ape because she seemed more familiar with this area, not because of her extremely attractive arse.

What was wrong with him? Well, besides the slightly unnerving, almost dizzying feeling he got from being in a dimension not of his own. They had certainly jumped back to wherever this yellow haired ape was from. Rose. He let the name roll around in his head for a moment. She certainly was different, that he could already tell. But what had possessed the version of himself in this dimension to look at her in such ways he had no idea. He still remember the way the skinny converse-wearing version of himself had held and talked to Rose before letting her go to the med bay. Didn't trust himself. Well, of course he didn't.

The ninth Doctor paused. The tenth version of himself knew about the Time War. It had happened across all dimensions, all parallel worlds, no place safe from it. The tenth Doctor knew about it. And what it did to him. And if he cared for this pink and yellow ape, then he wouldn't want the ninth version of himself anywhere near her. People died when they were with him. World's died. Everything died.

He stopped walking.

It took only a moment for Rose to know the Doctor, in his heavy boots, had stopped. She paused, turning to face him, concern immediately on her face.

"What is it?" She demanded, a little harshly. The Doctor laughed.

"You are not what I expected at all when I first saw that shy way you looked at me." He let the laugh fade into a chuckle, then into a slight smile. "But it doesn't matter. You need to go back to the TARDIS. I can handle this myself. And I know that the other me wouldn't want you to get hurt." He said.

Her eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched. If this was the ninth Doctor that knew Rose Tyler, he would know that Tyler expression. The "my way or get the fuck out of the way" expression. But he didn't. So he didn't react. "If I have to force you back into the TARDIS, so be it." He said conversationally. Rose hissed through her teeth.

"Doctor." She said, her tone stubborn and fierce. "I am going to save my friends. And you are either going to help me, or stay the fuck out of my way!" She finished. The Doctor blinked at her. She knew that expression. In fact, had she said those words in front of her own Doctor, he'd be wearing the same expression. Rose Tyler did not talk like that. Well. This dimension's Rose Tyler didn't. The Zeppelin world's Rose did. That Rose had to carve out a place for herself. She was hardened, a leader of Torchwood missions, a shirker of paperwork. Well, to be honest, she'd never liked paperwork. No matter what dimension, it was just plain grotty.

"Rose." The ninth Doctor responded, shifting his face quickly into one of indifference. Then he found himself looking at her with concern. "I would really like you to go back to the TARDIS."

"Tough." She said, with finality. She turned and was about to move on, when down the hall, she saw someone turning the corner. A familiar someone. Someone who wouldn't be fooled by their disguises. She flipped around, shoving the Doctor back into a room, shutting the door behind her.

"This is a broom closet, Rose. Not the TARDIS." The ninth Doctor said, with a hint of amusement. Rose clapped her hand over his mouth. He stared at her, starting to struggle and say something. Rose stepped closer, pressing the Doctor against the wall behind them. His eyes widened.

"Shh." She whispered. "Outside is someone who would recognize us. And not in a good way. So shuddup." She muttered. The Doctor nodded silently, lifting a hand up to push her hand off his mouth. She let him, but kept watching him to make sure he'd stay quiet. But she'd forgotten the ninth Doctor so quickly. Not a blather-er like her tenth Doctor. He stared down at her silently. She felt a blush rise to cheeks as she realized how close they were. He raised an eyebrow, thick as always. Rose was about to laugh, shrug it off, and pull away when she heard footsteps get closer. They paused in front of the broom closet. Her eyes widened in panic, and she pressed even closer to the Doctor.

He blinked as the top of her head brushed his chin. Her hair was quite soft and the sensation of it on his skin was almost…pleasant. He frowned. He could feel her chest and stomach pressed firm against his and he couldn't help but think of that red lacy contraption. And how to remove it. Merely the mechanics of it, of course, not the actual physical parts that would be exposed by its removal.

He was suddenly aware of her trembling and his arms automatically went around her. So as not to be heard, he leaned close, putting his mouth by her ear.

"It'll be all right. They'll pass." He murmured. She shuddered against him, lifting her brown eyes to meet his blue ones.

"It's so strange." She whispered. She probably wouldn't be understandable to a normal person, she was so quiet, but the Doctor heard her clearly. "To see you like this…but you don't see me." A tear appeared at the corner of her left eye, then made a path down her cheek. The Doctor was taken aback. His arms tightened around her. The dimension was making him feel so strange…especially about this particular ape.

He felt a change come over him.

"Oh Rose…" He murmured. "I do see you."

Her eyes grew wide and her head tilted at the sudden change in the Doctor. His pupils were dilated and she felt a slight fear, but the excited hopeful feeling was more prominent.

"Doctor?" She questioned. His mouth relaxed into a smile. A smile she recognized. "Doctor!" She said excited. She paused. "But…how?"

"I'm not sure how to explain. Or even if I can." He said with a chuckle. He looked her up and down. "You're different."

"Wait…you don't…remember?"

"Rose, I know that…this is the future, but honestly, the last thing I remember is laughing with you and Jack in the TARDIS, then a bright flash of light." He said with a shrug. "Then suddenly, bam! In a…" He glanced around, "Broom closet…with you." His eyes returned to her and brightened. "I can tell it's a different time. And if my internal clock is correct, it's much later."

"Yes…it's been…God…" She paused, relief flooding her. She couldn't even explain it. "It's been years. Doctor, I missed you so much!" She threw her arms around him and hugged tightly. She sneaked a glance at him to see his off-guard expression and took her chance.

She kissed him. Hard.

And found herself extremely pleased when he kissed back. She sighed into the kiss, softening it. He held her to him and she suddenly felt a battering ram of arousal hit her. She hadn't felt that since…the med bay with her Doctor. But this was her Doctor, she argued to herself. She pulled back from the kiss to examine him. He studied her.

"So…we've been apart, I would take it?" He question, his eyes sparkling with delight.

"For ages." She amended. He looked confused for a moment.

"But…I wouldn't leave you. I know I wouldn't." He said firmly. She smiled.

"That's touching Doctor. So touching…" She sighed, sounding a little too much like a teenage girl for her liking. She hardened herself. "You did though. There was…an incident. And you died…" She murmured.

"Died?" He said, aghast, "But…well see, that's strange Rose. Because my species, well, we have this thing we do. It's sort of a way of cheating death."

Rose giggled, just loving hearing her old Doctor talk to her again.

"Yes, yes, Sorry, that's what I meant. You regenerated." She elaborated.

"But…then why did you kiss me?" He looked around, "And where am I?" He blinked. "With no Gallifrey I can't see why more than one life of mine would be in one place…"

"Well…yeah, you're out there some where. We're actually trying to rescue you right now. You're in…another dimension's version of your self's body." She paused, letting him take it in, "And if that's not confusing enough, I was separated from you about two and a half years ago, because of this big fight with Cyberman and Daleks where I got pulled through the dimensional rift. And I've just run into you and Jack again. Well, not _**you**_. The tenth regeneration of you." She was speaking a mile a minute, but this Doctor could keep up. He nodded.

"Stranger things have happened."

"I missed you so much." She sighed, leaning against him. He smiled.

"Why are we in a broom closet? You didn't explain that part." He waggled his eyebrows in that way she only had in her memories. Her eyes shone slightly, but she pushed back the tears and smiled.

"Oh yah. Well, thing is…Adam works for the Time Agency. They're bad. And he's lurking around outside, so we had to hide."

"What happened to running?" He said jokingly. He caught sight of the gun holstered at her side. "Is that a gun?" He asked, his eyes darkening. Rose shook her head quickly.

"No, no. Well, yah it is. But it doesn't kill. It's a stun gun." She explained.

"But it's a gun." He said shortly. He looked at her, his expression different. "You didn't used to carry a gun." Rose felt a sort of horror fill her. She didn't care what the ninth Doctor of the other dimension thought of her, but she definitely cared what this one did.

"I picked it up from these guards. I…I…they shot me! And Tess!" She argued, trying to make him see. "I would have died, if it weren't for the nanobots you still had on the TARDIS!" She was desperate now, wanting his eyes to change back. They did, softening.

"Almost died?" He questioned, taking a deep breath. It was a lot to process so quickly, but he tried. He didn't linger on the 'Tess' name. Perhaps a new companion. Rose saw the calculating look on his face. No, that wasn't the one she wanted either. She pushed up on her toes, kissing him again, harshly, leaving all the walls of her mind down and inviting him in. He responded immediately, and Rose felt herself relax, the arousal growing. He delved deep into her mind, even as he kissed her thoroughly.

Suddenly the door opened.

* * *

The Doctor closed the cell door behind Jack and himself, hearing it click. He let Jack hang on to the sonic screwdriver. He didn't want to touch it unless he had to.

"Come on, let's find Tess. Then we'll go find the TARDIS and Rose." The Doctor said, leading the way. Jack followed easily, glancing around.

"Uh…Doctor?" He said, coming to a halt. The Doctor followed suit.

"Yes, Jack?" He asked, impatient.

"I remember…remember this place. Vaguely. Time Agency's secondary base. And if I'm correct, the interrogation rooms are this way." He said, turning around and heading in the opposite directing. The Doctor shrugged and followed.

After they came to the fourth fork in the hallway, the Doctor started to doubt Jack.

"Jack, do you think maybe…"

Then they turned the corner. And immediately collided with a determined redhead.

"Tess!" The Doctor said happily. Jack grinned.

"Missed you babe. You okay?" He asked, his eyes searching. She held a gun, and looked extremely annoyed, but otherwise, no worse for wear. She shrugged at the men.

"Harriet Jones is president of the Time Agency."

"What?"

"And she is slowly draining Jack of his temporal biological essence to power her own ship."

"What?"

"And so I knocked her out with a bit of the shackles she had me in and took her gun."

"WHAT?" The Doctor finally finished, his eyes wide. Jack looked on calmly. None of this really threw him.

"Don't worry Doctor, it's only a stun gun."

"That doesn't change the fact that it's a gun. You know how I feel about guns." The Doctor said angrily. Tess rolled her eyes.

"In addition to the drain on Jack, I felt some other strange temporal disturbance. Almost like…time travel…but I know the TARDIS is still here."

"Um Tess? Time Agency? They're running that sort of thing all the time." Jack said, as if it was the most obvious explanation.

"No, no. Not that wild and scattered. It's focused…I dunno. It came from this direction." She led them to the right. They followed quickly. "It's almost…familiar…it has the same sort of temporal signature as the Bad-" She cut herself off, looking at the Doctor sharply. He stared at her, but she turned and focused on locating the signature. There. She stopped in front of a door. "Here."

"Um. Tess." Jack said. "That's a broom closet."

"I know that, Jack. But it came from here. In fact…I sense…" She frowned, blinking rapidly. The Doctor sent her a concerned look before he reached for the door handle and turned it, pulling the door open.

All three stared at the scene inside.

There, in the back of the closet, against a wall, was the ninth Doctor. And Rose. Snogging. But at the sound of the door opening, Rose sprang back, her hand pulling out the gun aiming it-

At the Doctor.

"Oh." Her eyes went wide and she dropped the gun. The ninth Doctor looked at the group from behind her. His eyes went first to Jack, and he smiled slightly, then they glanced at Tess, a moment of confusion, before they rested on the tenth Doctor. He blinked. He recognized the form from the memories he'd just viewed

"Rose, that's the regeneration of me, isn't it?" He asked softly. He could see her trembling again. She seemed much more emotional than he remembered. Well, she had been quite emotional to begin with, but still. Perhaps a side effect of him looking through her mind. The tenth Doctor's eyes went dark.

"Forgot about me already, huh?" He demanded. He stood stiffly, his hand still on the door handle. Tess reached out to touch his shoulder, but he shook it off. "This is what happens when I leave her for you to look after?"

"Forget you?" The ninth Doctor said with a bit of his own anger simmering beneath the surface at being talked to like that. "I've never _**met**_ you. As for leaving her for me to look after, doesn't look like you're doing a very good job yourself, huh? Adam? Time Agency? Alternate dimensions?"

"What?" The tenth Doctor said.

"Doctor…" Rose started miserably. He spared her a brief glance. "This…this isn't the ninth Doctor-"

"Of course it is." The tenth Doctor, rolling his eyes.

"No, let me finish!" Rose said, a bit of her own anger rising. This was not a happy situation. "This isn't the ninth Doctor from the other dimension. This is the ninth Doctor from _**our own**_ dimension." She explained. The tenth Doctor stared.

"That's impossible."

"Extremely unlikely, yes." The ninth Doctor said, "But not impossible. It's happened before."

"Yes, but that was before Gallifrey-" He cut himself off. "Just when are you from?"

"Just before Gamestation." Rose said quietly. The tenth Doctor glanced at her. That slightly explained the snogging. Didn't excuse it of course. He paused in his rapid thoughts. Why was he so upset? It's not like he cared who Rose snogged. Okay. He still sucked at lying to himself. He did care. Especially if it was the previous version of himself. He was still sore about Rose's attachment to _**him**_. He sighed.

"Okay. Now. Why is he here?"

"I think I can clarify that." Tess said quietly. Everyone looked at her. She spared the ninth Doctor a glance "Tess, by the way. I'm part of the TARDIS. Hard to explain, so we'll just leave that for a minute. As for the ninth Doctor appearing…" She looked at Rose. "Rose…did you…did you want him for some reason?" She asked. Rose blinked.

"What?"

"Did you…did you wish that he was here?" She asked.

"No." She paused. "Not really."

"But…" Tess pressed. Rose sighed.

"I did kinda wish he would look at me like my Doctor did." She looked at the tenth one apologetically. "I mean…the ninth version of you. Oh this is all so confusing…"

"So you…wished he would look at you like your old ninth Doctor?" Tess said. Rose nodded sadly, already knowing that, as usual, this was somehow her fault.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Jack demanded. "I wish for things all the time. They don't appear, poof, out of no where."

"Well, Jack, that's because you aren't the Bad Wolf." Tess said quietly.

"But the Bad Wolf doesn't exist anymore." The tenth Doctor said firmly. "I took her from Rose."

"Bad Wolf…" the ninth Doctor said quietly, processing.

"Not true exactly. You made her lay dormant. But unfortunately, releasing her was my fault. It was the only way to get back to this dimension. And I thought I had put her back to sleep, but apparently not."

"The…bad wolf?" Rose said quietly. The words ran wildly in her head, reminding her of singing. Of golden ribbons of light. She couldn't quite grasp the memory though. The tenth Doctor jumped forward, reaching for Rose's hand and pulling her closer, his eyes concerned.

"Is she okay? What about before? She isn't burning, is she?" He said, searching her eyes as he spoke to Tess. She looked at him silently. Tess shook her head.

"No, no. It's merely a little twist in time that she performed before going back to napping inside Rose. Much different from delivering death and...bringing life " She cast a look back at Jack. His eyes widened. "She should be fine as long as she doesn't do anything more."

"What about me?" The ninth Doctor asked. He asked Tess, though he was looking at the tenth Doctor and Rose with a dark expression. The tenth Doctor returned it, pulling Rose even closer. He'd never experienced this deep jealousy before. Mickey had been a blip on the screen, Jack merely a spike.

But none of this was anything compared to the huge wave he had for himself. It was strange to have it for a past version of himself, but if anything, it made the green-eyed monster all the more powerful.

"Well…we can't have the Bad Wolf send you back. It would endanger Rose." She reasoned. "Perhaps we could come up with an alternative in the TARDIS."

"We still need the demat circuit." Jack said firmly. Tess sighed and held up a small, triangular piece of metal and circuitry.

"First thing I grabbed after knocking Harriet Jones out."

"Harriet Jones?" Rose and the ninth Doctor said at the same time. They exchanged a smile that sent the tenth Doctor into further fits of jealousy.

"Yep. Apparently the president of the Time Agency." Jack explained. "All right, well, before they notice anything, let's run like hell!" He took off towards the TARDIS, and Tess followed immediately. The ninth and tenth Doctor exchanged a glance, Rose standing between them. She looked from one to the other for a moment before she rolled her eyes, pulled her hand from the tenth Doctor's grip and put her hands on her hips.

"You are both just the same as you always were! It's all 'oh Rose, yeah, she's just my mate' until some other bloke looks at me the wrong way, then I turn into some sort of possession of yours!" She exclaimed, speaking to both of them.  
They both looked at her in surprise. "You're the same! You even tried to explain that to me!" Rose accused the tenth Doctor, "Remember? Same memories and everything? I've finally got that and now you throw a fit?" She threw her hands in the air, "I can barely deal with one of you tying my emotions into knots, but _**two**_ of you? Oh, bloody hell, no. I'm gonna stick with Tess and Jack on this. Run like hell!" She finished, before spinning around and taking off after the redhead and the American.

The Doctors exchanged another glance. The tenth looked slightly ashamed, but the ninth just looked peeved.

"Is she always like that now?" He asked, that annoyance leaking out. The tenth Doctor glared.

"She's right. We shouldn't be acting like this. She isn't meant to be fought over, our Rose." He reasoned. The ninth Doctor glowered.

"My Rose." He said angrily. The tenth Doctor frowned.

"Why would you say that?" He knew he went deeper than just the naturally possessive nature of the ninth Doctor. He was mad about something.

"When we snogged, she was so vulnerable that I fell into her memories. Mostly memories of you." He said sourly. The tenth Doctor didn't have time to feel smug.

"That's quite rude."

_"It was an accident. She was trying to make explaining a bit easier." He said indifferently. "But I do have one word for you."_

"And what's that?" The tenth Doctor asked, a bit snottily.

"Reinette." He spat. The tenth Doctor stared, aghast. The ninth Doctor's gaze darkened. "Is that not enough? How's this: Madame de Pompadour. Your girl in a fireplace. That you were going to LEAVE HER FOR!" He bellowed. The tenth Doctor flinched slightly. "At least you explained about Sarah Jane. And they sort of bonded." He allowed himself a small smile, though he was annoyed that he didn't get to meet Sarah Jane. "But this French woman. You almost left the TARDIS. And Rose." His eyes narrowed. His voice was soft now. Dangerously soft. "And that's something she's never forgiven you for. I can feel it. And I'm certainly not going to forgive you either." He said tersely before turning and striding down the hallway towards the TARDIS.

The tenth Doctor forcefully composed himself before heading towards the TARDIS and everyone else.

* * *

_...I'm not still sore about Reinette or anything. *cough* Anyway, I always thought the 9th would give the 10th a lecture about all that. And now I can have it happen! Yay, catharsis!_

Also...you'll notice rating is uped, both because of the language (oh noes!) and the next chapter. It shall feature naughtiness...


	10. Sharing

_Yep. Got bored. Wanted to go ahead and post this.  
SURPRISE!  
And the reviews were so sweet :-) Thanks all!_****

_****Okay: THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER DOES CONTAIN SOME "M" MATERIAL. NOTHING EXTREMELY GRAPHIC (IN MY OPINION, AT LEAST). DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU CANNOT READ MATERIAL OF THAT SORT. IF YOU FEEL IT IS TOO INAPPROPIATE FOR THIS WEBSITE, PLEASE NOTIFY ME AND I WILL EDIT IT. THANK YOU!****_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Sharing**

__

* * *

It was looking like they either had to share, or neither got her. And they both really wanted Rose right now.

* * *

"All righty, all done!" Tess cried happily, getting to her feet and brushing herself off. "Demat circuit in perfect working order!" She waved a hand towards the bottom of the consul as if to show proof. Jack clapped. The tenth Doctor gave her a half-hearted smile and the ninth Doctor a nod. Rose had gone to change.

"Now we can get out of here!" cheered Jack.

"Not exactly." The ninth Doctor interjected. Everyone looked at him in surprise. "Well, Tess, you said that your dimension jump required awaking the Bad Wolf. Which if we did again; could possibly hurt Rose. Which none of us is going to risk." He said firmly. Everyone nodded in agreement. "But from what I've learned in the short time I've been here, Rose's family is in the other dimension. And I doubt she'd want to be stuck here without telling them at least something."

The tenth doctor started to speak, but the ninth one cut him off.

"I know she _**was **_ready to leave them to travel the universe, but we don't know if this is still true. And it isn't fair to assume that anyways. It's a forever kind of thing." He paused, "Not to mention that this body is also technically from that dimension. So, we need to figure out how to get over there without hurting anyone."

"Well…" Jack said. The ninth Doctor smirked.

"How'd I know you'd have the plan." He said. Jack smiled.

"Always. I was thinking, if the Time Agency is draining my time energy, or whatever, to use for some cool temporal ship, why can't we borrow it to puddle jump like what I did before. Or even hook up the energy to the TARDIS."

"Jack, the only reason you survived that 'puddle jump' is because you can't die." The tenth Doctor said flatly. "The rest of us aren't so lucky."

"Ah, but my sweetheart Tess here can work up some TARDIS puddle jumping magic that'll get us all over there in one piece, right baby?" He said, smirking at the redhead. She giggled in a strangely girlish fashion.

"So…now Jack flirts with the TARDIS too?" The ninth Doctor said, peeved.

"Oh yes." The tenth Doctor said, and they exchanged a briefly shared tortured look before they remember they were mad at each other.

"I might be able to work something out…" She said.

"That's my girl!" cried Jack happily.

"Hey. Not your girl. My girl." The tenth and ninth Doctor said at the exact same time.

"I thought I was your girl?" said a new voice. The group turned to see Rose emerge from the hallway in jeans and a spaghetti strap top. Damp hair showed that she had also showered as well as changed clothes. Her tone was flip, and it was obvious that she hadn't forgiven either of the Doctors. They stared at her. The ninth spoke first.

"We're trying to figure out how to get back to the other dimension, where your family is." He explained, not reacting to her previous comment. She looked at the tenth Doctor. He attempted a grin, his eye soft.

"You're both my girls." He said with a smile. The ninth Doctor rolled his eyes. "And we're thinking that we might be able to concoct a way to get back to Jackie and Pete! And ol' Mickey boy! How's he doing?"

"Mickey? Who's that?" asked the ninth Doctor, raising an eyebrow. Rose glanced at him.

"Rickey."

"Ah. Right. Sort of whiny fellow." The ninth Doctor said. Jack laughed, knowing the ninth Doctor knew exactly who Mickey was, but played the game like he used to. Rose knew this too and granted him a small smile.

"He's not so whiny anymore. Top Torchwood agent. He's eatin' nails now."

"Of course." Jack said, "Always knew he had it in him!"

"I don't think nails are for eating," murmured the ninth Doctor. Rose's face lightened a bit more with the joke. At least she assumed it was joke. But now that she thought on it for a moment, she realized the Doctor might not get the expression, maybe it didn't exactly translate into something he understood.

"No, it's just an expression." She said with a smile.

Then that lonely feeling started tapping on her shoulder again. She'd managed to toss it temporarily in the shower, but it the sinking feeling was starting in her stomach, and soon she'd get that empty feeling. It's funny how it happened even faster, though she had _**both**_ her Doctors here with her. She guessed seeing what you can't have right in front of your face was worse than just dreaming about it.  
She went to stand by Jack, leaning against him slightly and he automatically wrapped an arm around her waist. Both Doctors frowned.

"All right, I should be able to figure something out for getting us back to the other dimension. Just give me oh…about an hour? Maybe two. Not exactly making a cuppa." Tess said. "I should be able to figure out something that doesn't kill us and doesn't involve using the Bad Wolf." She paused, looking around. "But I need you all out. Out, out, out." She made a shooing motion with her hands.

"Are you sure you don't need help?" asked the two Doctors, at the same time. They glowered at each other. That was getting annoying.

"No, no, I would rather work alone on this. I'll make decisions faster, therefore it'll go faster." said Tess with a smile. Everyone ignored the barely hooded comment on the Doctors' indecision when it came to 'jiggery-pokery'. It was already quite well known.

"Well, what are we supposed to do for an hour if we can't help you?" asked the tenth Doctor. Rose stepped in.

"Didn't you once tell me there was a swimming pool on here somewhere?" She paused, and had all the boys' immediate attention, "Perhaps we should find it and go for a swim." She finished playfully, her foul mood already seeming to have dissipated. Her past had taught her to play at being cheerful, and at least everyone around you won't be dragged down by your mood.

"Swimming sounds perfect." Jack said happily, "You mean skinny-dipping, of course."

"Jack!" yelled the tenth Doctor.

"No way in hell." said the ninth Doctor through clenched teeth.

"Nice try Jack." Rose finished, "There will be bathing attire worn."

"I dunno about you, Rose, but I bath in the nude." Jack said coaxingly.

"I meant swimming attire." She corrected, rolling her eyes. Jack shrugged.

"You should be more specific."

She ignored him as she headed towards the TARDIS's wardrobe room to find a swimming suit. The boys followed, leaving Tess to work on her project.

* * *

The swimming pool was a decent size, and since Tess wanted them distracted, it was relatively easy to find in the maze of hallways. There was even a bathroom on either side for everyone to use to change into. Rose had commandeered one, so the three guys all went into the other. It was a large bathroom, as if Tess knew there would be more than one person in there.

The men stared at each other. Jack paused for only a fraction of at second before he stripped, then pulled on the tight swim trunks Rose had picked out.

He had picked out a Speedo, but as soon as the blond saw it, she turned crimson and took it from his hands, replacing it with some trunks. She had been muttering something about she didn't need to see any more 'manly attributes' exposed than she was going to have to contend with.

The Doctors both sighed. Jack didn't care how many people were with him, he'd take any excuse to strip.

"All right, grumps, I'm going to go meet our goddess!" He said with a wink, heading out to the pool.

The Doctors frowned, half-heartedly starting to change. The tenth Doctor did so while entirely ignoring the ninth. He had no interest to glance at a body he already knew, and he knew Rose had been pressed against while snogging passionately in the broom closet.

The ninth Doctor glanced casually at the tenth after he'd gotten his swim shorts on. The physique was entirely different. Skinny, wiry frame, just enough grace to keep it from being gangly. The ninth couldn't imagine him as **_The_** Oncoming Storm.

The Oncoming Spring Showers, maybe. But this bit of what should have been a self-esteem booster just made him glower. How could Rose be so upset over such a tiny, weak looking body? But then again, she wasn't really about the skin-deep stuff anyways. He wasn't either. Though if he were, he certainly wouldn't be complaining about Rose.

The Doctors finished at almost the same time, and exited the room one after the other, cautiously going to the swimming pool. They paused at the door, exchanging a glance. This activity could possibly be a disaster for them.

Then they heard Rose scream.

They burst into the room to see her glaring at Jack from the center of the pool, Jack standing smug at the edge, his arms in the position of having obviously just thrown her into the pool. She swam to the edge, hoisting herself over and out.

She was dripping rivulets of water and the Doctors could only stared as she flipped her wet hair back and strode toward Jack menacingly. He took a couple steps back, but she was too fast for him. She shoved him into the pool, bursting out laughing.

"Two can play at that game, Jack!" She called to him as he rose to the surface.

"Two can play many games, Rose." He replied suggestively. She blushed, almost matching her swimsuit. It was a deep, almost maroon red. And practically a two-piece. It had a top and a bottom that were only connected in the front and back by a crisscrossing design over her stomach, almost like a spider web. Bits of string really. Left nothing to the imagination. And Rose looked fantastic in it.

Jack wave at her, inviting her back into the pool.

"You aren't going to throw me this time?" She asked, her eyes twinkling. Jack made a sign with his hand.

"Scout's Honor." He said solemnly.

"You weren't in the Scouts." She said, rolling her eyes. But she slid into the water anyways.

Then she noticed the Doctors.

And she knew swimming had been a horrible idea.

It was like a chocoholic being presented with two of the richest, creamiest, most delicious pieces of chocolate in existence. And the pieces were more than half unwrapped. She blinked a couple times.

They had picked out very similar trunks, which was funny, really. Almost the same kind, but different colors. They weren't as tight as Jack's.

The ninth Doctor was wearing a black pair, of course. It had an electric blue strip on the side of each leg, though. The tenth was wearing a muted brown color, almost matching that pinstriped suit he always wore. And of course, neither of them were wearing anything else. Which is wherein lied Rose's difficulty.

She swallowed.

_-Step one: breathe in. Breathe out.-_

_-Okay, step one completed. Step two: for the love of god stop staring at them.-_

-…-

_-So step two is a little harder. Maybe I should do this in baby steps.-_

_-Okay, step one, breathing, accomplished. -_

_-Step two (take two): get your tongue back in your mouth, Rose.-_

_-There you go! Good! You're doing great!-_

Jack chuckled softly from behind Rose as she all but devoured both Doctor's with her eyes, even to the point of licking her lips, and leaving her tongue in that cute spot outside the corner of her mouth.

The Doctors could only stare in astonishment at an expression they'd never really noticed before. That pure, unadulterated lust in her eyes.

"Is this normal?" whispered the ninth Doctor to the tenth.

"No. Very much no. I have never seen that look before." said the tenth back, also quietly.

"Okay. Just wanted to make sure that it wasn't something I'd missed when we were playing catch up earlier."

"If you missed it, I certainly missed it."

The brief chatting was serving as a sort of semblance of a truce, at least for the moment.

Rose slowly got out of the pool, starting to move towards them. This could end badly. Or very well, depending.

_-Okay. Still can't stop looking at them. Let's see, let's see. Uh…go and…say hello.-_

She was already getting out of the pool before she realized walking closer to them would not be a good idea. She paused a foot or two away from them, confusion flitting across her face.

"Uh…" She started, finally managing to break her gaze to glance around the room, "This…swimming pool is…big." She finished lamely.

"Mmm." murmured the ninth, trying to discretely look her up and down. Rose noticed, however, and felt something tighten in her stomach. She suddenly didn't want to be here, with Jack, in such a big place. Her voice echoed in here with a hollow sound. She wanted to whisper sexily. She wanted to be somewhere very private for these glances that were being exchanged.

And then she looked at the tenth Doctor. His eyes were looking only at her face, but his pupils were dark and large as he stared. Her eyelashes fluttered weakly.

"Rose…" he muttered hoarsely. She felt the sensation coil even more in her stomach, her blood now running strangely thick and heavy in her veins.

This was strange now. Getting turned on by two Doctors. Well, not really two Doctors, but two…bodies of one Doctor. Her mind briefly went in the direction of fantasies. And what could happen if these two different regenerations of the Doctor could put aside their jealousy and share.

"Sharing would definitely be good."

Did she just say that out loud? Oh god, not only could she not stop staring at them, but that filter from her brain to her mouth had been tossed out the window. The Doctors' jaws dropped, almost simultaneously as they worked out what she most likely was thinking of that prompted that statement. She turned red from her face all the way down to her breasts.

"I didn't mean that. Uh, well, I meant to say- Um, well, that is-" She gave up, shrugging at them, not knowing how to explain the Freudian Slip away.

The Doctors' exchanged glances.

Jack was long gone, having discretely left the room after knowing exactly where this situation was likely headed.

It was the ninth Doctor who reached out, his hand going for her hair. She stepped closer automatically, and his fingers brushed through her golden strands. The tenth Doctor frowned only for a moment before he seemed to decide something and moved behind her, his hands moving lightly up and down her back. She sighed happily, moving back against him.

Her eyes opened in surprise and she glanced back at the brown eyes behind her. They were sheepish with what she'd discovered. She gave a slinky grin.

"Ah. Well. You may verbally dance around this relationship, but your body seems to have already made its decision, Doctor." She said. He cut his eyes down with embarrassment. There was an angry sound in front of her and she turned to see the ninth Doctor stepping closer and pressing against her, his eyes filled with jealousy. He placed a hand on her hip lightly, the other still in her hair. His hands were clenching her firmly, not hurting her, but she certainly got the message. She moved slightly forward, feeling that the ninth was having exactly the same problem as the tenth.

This couldn't be any more perfect.

As she heard a grumble behind her, she realized it could. She sighed. They both looked at her in surprise at the sound.

"Can't you two get along?" She said moodily, starting to move away. The coiling low in her belly was loosening at the possessiveness being shown in front of her. This wasn't making her happy at all.

She was immediately stopped by two sets of hands. She glanced back just in time to see the two Doctor's exchange a glance, and they obviously reached a decision because the tenth cleared his throat.

"Rose." He started, her name still low in his throat. It sent a delicious shiver through her and she felt the coil change immediately, tightening. "We…if this is what you want, we don't want to give you anything else." He said, pulling her back. She murmured a happy sound as he again moved behind her, his body against her back. The ninth stepped closer, putting his hands back where they were. He coughed, slight sheepishness showing through his icy eyes.

"However, I can't promise there won't be jealousy." He said, pulling her head closer to him, "I want you, Rose. But I know you're really his Rose." He whispered, his forehead touching hers. "My Rose hasn't had her heart broken yet." He continued, his voice soft and she felt tears burn in the back of her eyes. She pushed the sensation back, focusing on the Doctor's face. "But since you have, I want to show you that I can repair it." He paused, his eyes flitting back to the Doctor behind them, who was trying to respectfully give them their moment. "But I also don't want to leave you with him until I absolutely have to. And I want to see him prove that you're still everything. Because you are to me." He finished, moving down and kissing her softly. She moved closer, pressing against him as she kissed him back firmly.

The tenth Doctor stepped back, trying not to frown. The ninth Doctor was right. This was his Rose. He should give his former self this moment, these touches. After all, the Northern accented git was about to lose Rose.

But that didn't mean that he wanted to.

She could feel the tight muscles in the ninth Doctor's chest, pressing against her bare skin. His tight stomach against her soft one. She moaned lightly into his mouth and she felt an answering response from him.

Suddenly, she felt her back hit by a cold rush of air and pulled back from the ninth Doctor abruptly, looking behind her. The tenth Doctor stood a couple feet back, looking down at his hands with feigned interest. Rose could almost feel the loneliness radiating off him. She was familiar with that feeling. And she didn't want her Doctor to feel it in the slightest.

She moved over to him quickly, pulling his hands down, moving them onto her hips and she pressed up against him. He stared. She reached up to brush a hand against his face.

"Doctor…I don't want you to feel like that. I want you just as much as him. Maybe even a little more…After all, you're the one I wanted to return to. That I tried so hard to get back to. It's been a long time since I wanted you to change back." She murmured, and his eyes showed surprise. "I just…I like the way he's blunt. He doesn't have that gob that you do. He just says what he means. He looks at me the way you want to, I know. It's like you've wanted to distance yourself from me ever since you regenerated." She said, a tinge of sadness creeping into her voice. The tenth Doctor quickly shook his head, and reached out to wrap his head around the back of her head.

"No, no, no. Rose. I just…when I regenerated, I realized how much I…" He stopped, sighing. "How much I cared about you, and it scared me. I didn't want to watch you leave me…" He replied softly. She frowned.

"But you left me." She argued. His eyes darkened.

"Rose, how many times do I need to tell you, I did everything I could to get to this dimension. It was an accident that you got stuck here." He explained, and then he placed his forehead against hers. It was just something he liked to do to get close, no matter what the regeneration. She stared at him, her eyes hard.

"That was not the time I was talking about." She said shortly. He was confused, but suddenly he felt her push a word at his mind. He didn't even think about how she could do it, just gaped at the word that surfaced savagely from her mind.

_Reinette_

He pulled back as if burned. She stared at him, and from behind her he could feel the blue eyes of his former self glaring. The ninth had obviously heard her mind-burst as well.

So the bastard was right. She hadn't forgiven him. He didn't want to explain right now, he just wanted to keep touching her.

He wanted to kiss her.

He moved quickly, pulling her head back to his and covering her lips with his own. The kiss was passionately desperate. Rose almost stumbled, falling against the Doctor as he continued kissing her thoroughly. He was trying to prove something at first, show her that he wanted her and only her.

But then the want actually sent in. She was firmly against him when she fell, and he could feel her breasts rising against his chest rapidly. He could feel her pebbled nipples through the thin material of the swimsuit. And she was so warm. He changed his kiss, pressing against her insistently, his tongue sweeping out and pushing into her mouth. She opened easily, loving the way he curled around her tongue and brushed against the roof of her mouth.

And his body against hers. It was thinner than the ninth's. She could feel that the chest muscles weren't as defined. But his skin was softer, and she felt the hairs of his lower stomach tickling her stomach. His long fingers were wound in her hair, holding her. And she imagined what else those long fingers could do.

Both Doctors suddenly got a flash of the long fingers moving in and out of her, coated in slick wetness. The ninth Doctor let out a gasp of surprise from behind while the tenth pulled back from Rose slightly, his eyes darkening and groaned lightly.

"Rose…" He murmured. She looked at him, her own eyes dark and inviting. "How did you do that?" He asked.

"I don't know. But I like it." She said quietly, trying to move back to kiss him. He moved further back, his expression wary. She let out a frustrated growl, and then a focused look came to her face.

_She untied the back of her swimsuit, and let the top of it drop. Her breasts were exposed, absolutely gorgeous._

_Then she was lying on her back with a sexy 'come-fuck-me' look. She was naked, though the apex of her thighs was hidden by shadow._

_Then she was arching back, moaning, her hand clenched in his hair as he licked the juncture between her legs. _

_"Doctor!" She cried out. _

Both Doctors' were immediately breathing harder and the ninth moved closer, needing to touch her after that. He frowned. The hair she had clenched in that vision had most certainly been a mop of brown curly mess. He wrapped his hands around her from behind, growling in her ear.

"And where was I during all that?" He said heatedly. She looked back at him, giving him a sweet smile.

_She was pressed against a wall of the TARDIS, her back to him, her breasts flush against the cold metal, entirely naked and her chest heaving with the effort of breathing while being so aroused. He was against her, moving to line himself up so he could thrust into her. She moaned, looking back at him over her shoulder._

_"I want you hard and fast." She said thickly. She pushed back against him, causing him to slip inside a couple inches. She was slick, soft, and oh so warm._

"How about there?" She whispered with a glint to her eyes. He felt himself straining against his trunks tightly. He could hear the tenth Doctor panting heavily, and she smiled proudly.

"You're a naughty minx, aren't you?" He asked, dragging her head back a little more and kissing her. She moaned into his mouth and when he pulled away he saw her smirk.

"I just know what I want. And I'm tired of waiting. And we can work out how I can send these…pictures, later. I want you now." She turned, looking at the tenth Doctor, who was watching her with dark, intense eyes. "Both of you."

"At the same time?" The ninth asked, his brow wrinkling. "I dunno if I want to do that." The tenth Doctor nodded in agreement.

Rose pouted. It was an extremely sexy pout. The tenth Doctor tore a hand through his hair and the ninth grumbled. They met each others eyes again briefly, coming to another decision. It was looking like they either had to share, or neither got her. And they both really wanted Rose right now. All or nothing.

"All right." The tenth spoke up, as the ninth moved to kiss along Rose's neck. "But we're staying on opposite sides of you. We are not touching each other in any way." He said firmly. Rose gave them a mischievous grin.

"You won't fulfill my fantasy of you kissing each other?" She asked wickedly. They blanched.

"No. Sorry Rose. We will fill you though." murmured the ninth in her ear. She shivered. That sounded better anyhow. She grinned happily.

"Well, I suppose that's all I really want." She said. Then she extricated herself from between them and moved towards the door of the room. "We are not doing anything more in here. And I want to get out of these clothes." She opened the door and slipped out before the Doctor's could realize she was leaving.

They immediately followed.

* * *

_Hopefully it wasn't too terrible. When I first wrote the rough draft of this part years ago, it got me blushing just thinking about it. I hope you guys didn't find it too risque? I know it would be unsual for the two Doctors to just hop into bed together with her. I promise, I haven't gotten rid of the plot entirely for smut. There is a reason why they didn't even think about following Rose to bed. Don't let the mild smut make you forget about the weird things Rose is able to do! It'll add up, I promise!_

_Thanks!_


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